Ghosts of the Deep
by KBaileyBooks
Summary: The ongoing adventures of Rev Blackwind and her friends as they battle their way through the dangers of Saltmarsh. This is a novelization of my very first DnD game. It's just for fun, and I have no idea where it is going. Spoilers for Ghosts of Saltmarsh This is my original writing based on a D&D campaign. I will protect my content if I find it posted anywhere else. Updated Weekly.
1. Chapter 1

This is a novelization of my very first game of Dungeons & Dragons. I've been writing it as a way to record our game, and as a gift to the DM. I'm having fun with it and I thought I would share. Everyone in my campaign is on board, and their characters and bits of roll playing are used with permission. This is a literary translation of every roll of the dice in our game. The chapters are long, covering each of our three hour, weekly games in a single chapter. I try to post new chapters every Wednesday, unless our game was cancelled for the week.

SPOILERS for The Ghosts of Saltmarsh

I have absolutely no control over the plot, the characters, and especially not the parrot.

I hope you enjoy our adventure too.

KB

Dungeons & Dragons/Saltmarsh

Episode 1

"For the last bloody time, woman, it's not the tank!"

Rev glanced over at Ruanea, and the elf gave her an exasperated look that took her normally aloof expression to new heights. Callie had called them both down to inspect the freshwater tank that her husband Milo had installed in the bilge of their keelboat.

The water pooling in the bilge soaked through Rev's boots. She should have left them on deck. Ruanea looked like she'd wished she'd left herself on deck. Ruanea was a full-blooded Sun Elf, and although Rev was only a half-elf, her eyesight in the dark was just as sharp. They could both see the trickle of water pouring out of the seam of the metal tank.

"Milo." Callie's voice took on her "captain's tone" as she placed her hands on her hips. She was a stout halfling, but somehow made the stance imposing. "The bilge is flooded. It's the tank."

"I spent and arm and a leg on that tank. It's the finest gnome craftsmanship in all of the Sword Coast. It's not the tank." Milo kicked the side of the tank with his peg leg. A joyful squawk followed by flapping wings drew his attention. Rev's yellow-headed parrot, Bastard, was taking an exuberant bath in the deepening puddle. Milo scowled.

Callie scooped up a handful of the water in an old wooden tankard sitting on a barrel of ale. That Callie didn't question what the tankard was doing there, said volumes about her current level of ire over her husband's beloved water tank. "Taste it."

"It's not the tank!"

Callie shoved the mug into his chest.

"Fine, just because I will enjoy proving you wrong." Milo scrunched up his face and took a sip of the water. He swallowed, then glared at his wife. "The tank has a leak. I'll man the till; we'll make repairs at the nearest island."

"Aye, aye, captain!" Bastard announced in his squeaky parrot voice before resuming his bath.

Callie rolled her eyes as she climbed the ladder out of the bilge. Milo followed her, hopping up the ladder on his one good leg.

"Was this job everything you hoped for?" Ruanea asked, brushing her short, dark hair out of her eyes. She stood and lifted her feet out of the bilge water, shaking out her soggy shoes.

"I've had worse," Rev replied. Her stint as a smuggler with a mostly half-orc crew certainly counted. Rev had been born on a ship, and sailing was in her blood. For the last fifteen years she had sought out the worst of the worst crews to sail with and hung around the underside of every disreputable dock from Saltmarsh to the Sword Coast in the hopes to hear rumors about the fate of the Blackwind. She had only taken this job because she had gotten into a scrape with some town guards and needed to move on quickly.

Milo and Callie, though warm and generous halflings, were not very picky about who they hired on. They had taken on Rev gladly, and her parrot not-so-gladly, as well as Ruanea the elf who had never been on a boat in her life, and a human man named Borassos who had been a fisherman once, but now was preoccupied with his new-found faith. At least he could tie a decent knot.

Ruanea climbed up the ladder, leaving Rev with her soaked bird. She scooped up Bastard and held him as he shook out his feathers, splattering her with the water from the tank. His wet feathers stuck up in yellow spikes from his head.

"Enjoy that, did you?" she asked.

"Yeah!" Bastard squawked as she put him on her shoulder and followed Ruanea out of the bilge.

It only took a day of sailing before Milo steered them to a deserted island with a fresh stream. He ordered them to line the tank with wood to stop the leak and fill it with fresh water.

"So, we're building a barrel?" Borassos asked tugging on his moustache. Ruanea didn't bother to look up from her book as she sat on the railing of the deck. Rev skirted around the man to position herself upwind. He had a rather foul odor that hung about him. Half of her was tempted to kick him overboard, just so he would have a bath.

"Milo ordered us to line the tank with wood," Rev said. Borassos waited patiently for an answer to his question. Rev sighed. "Yes, we're putting a barrel inside the tank."

"Why don't we just keep fresh water in a barrel?" Borrassos scratched his head.

Rev didn't think Milo's pride could take that. "Why don't you ask the captain?"

"Which one?" Ruanea huffed and flipped a page.

"LAND HO!" Callie shouted from the crow's nest.

Bastard, who was hanging upside-down from the rigging flapped his bright green wings and shouted. "Maroon the scum!" then returned to chewing through one of the ropes that secured the mainsail.

"Your bird is charming," Ruanea said, again without looking up from her book. "Wherever did you get him?"

"I lost a bet," Rev stated. The elf would rather read than learn to work the rigging, but Rev couldn't really fault her for her inexperience. She seemed to want to go to Saltmarsh for some reason or another. Hiring on as a hand was more lucrative than spending money on passage, barely. Rev moved across the deck to the starboard rail. "Do you see that?"

For the first time, Ruanea looked up. She squinted her green-gold eyes as the sun caught the copper streaks in her otherwise black hair. She stood and crossed the deck. "It looks like a flame."

"But it's green." Rev gripped the rail as her tawny hair caught the wind. She tucked a pale blonde streak behind her slightly pointed ear.

"It must be a spell," Borassos explained. Rev and Ruanea just looked at him. He didn't even notice their annoyance. Of course it was a spell. The question was, who cast it? "Do you think we should tell the captain?"

"Which one?" Rev quipped, throwing Ruanea's joke back to her. The elf actually gave her something that might have been called a smile, perhaps.

Rev climbed up the rigging to get a better look. It didn't look like there was much on the island but rocks, and the strange fire. "We need fresh water. I don't think we have much choice. We're going to have to land. Best be quick, and wary."

Milo clearly had fair knowledge of the island, because he managed to bring the ship around into an inlet that allowed them to strike to shore fairly easily. As soon as they landed on the beach, a wild-looking man ran toward them, waving his arms. Rev kept her hand on her dagger as the stranger shouted several unintelligible things at them in some strange language that she had never heard before.

His shaggy black hair hung in his face. Bare to the waist, his scarred and tattooed skin had been burned by the sun so badly, he looked like he was made of tooled leather. He shook Milo's hand, still speaking strangely, and seeming confused that they weren't replying. In frustration he pushed his hair back from his face, and only then did they realize he was an elf.

He thought carefully about his words. "You came," he finally said. "You saw my fire."

"By the Gods, man, how long have you been on this island?" Milo asked as Rev moved closer, in the event that she had to protect the little man. She noticed Ruanea muttering a spell under her breath as well while Borassos struggled with the barrels.

The elf counted on his fingers. "Twenty years," he broke into the strange language again, then corrected himself. "I am Elgoth. Do not linger here. There are strange spirits thick in the air." With those words, he pulled out a skull from the bag on his hip and started whispering to it in the secret tongue.

Milo didn't seem disturbed in the slightest. "We're just here for water," Milo said. "but you are welcome to join our crew if you have a need."

Ruanea glanced at Rev, and she tightened her hand on her dagger.

"It's been years since I've had the taste of real food upon my lips, other than oily fish." His voice was rasping, and his eyes wild.

"We have salted beef," Milo said as the wild elf lead him toward the stream. "Help us with our water and we'll give you passage to Saltmarsh.

"Salted beef? Oh, to taste it…" Their conversation faded off as they walked toward the stream.

Rev crossed her arms. "How long until he kills us in our sleep?" she asked Ruanea.

"I don't intend to sleep," she answered.

After filling the barrels with fresh water, and then filling the barrel they placed in the tank, they were able to set sail again. That evening, as was the habit on the ship, Callie and Milo invited them to the small balcony just off the back of the ship past their quarters to socialize over dinner. They called the evening ritual a Sundowner, and over the last few weeks Rev had gotten to know a bit about her companions.

Borassos had led a simple life with his family of fishermen, though he left them to be on his own. Living as a hermit, he was attacked by creatures, and by some miracle, he felt power surging through him. Now he was devoted to learning more about his new divinity. Rev hadn't seen much evidence of it but respected the man's prayers. Other than that, he was a quiet man who didn't make too many waves.

Ruanea had a history that intrigued her. The high elf had come from a family of healers. She had been studying her family's magic lore for decades intending to follow their example. One day, someone came to their sanctuary in search of healing, or so that's what they said. They destroyed everything. Ruanea barely escaped with her life. Now she was seeking a different sort of knowledge, something far darker than healing. Rev understood far better than Ruanea knew.

Now Elgoth had joined them for their latest Sundowner. Milo cracked open his special brew. It was greenish and slightly bitter. Over the last few weeks, Rev had gotten used to it, but it was definitely an acquired taste. Elgoth, who looked only slightly less wild with his hair pulled back, loved the drink, and shared it with his skull.

"It's delicious, isn't it Fitzmina?" He held his goblet up to the skull's teeth.

"Hey, now don't waste it!" Milo shouted as Bastard sneaked across the rail and tipped over Milo's cup. The gob-wine spilled onto the balcony. "Damn you, that's the third time you've done that, you little bastard!" He took a swing at the parrot, but Bastard flew into the rigging, then hung upside down and cackled manically.

"I swear, one of these days, I'm going to roast that damn bird and we'll have _him_ for a Sundowner." Milo shook out his cup and poured himself another wine.

Rev took a sip of her wine and winced. "That's fair. I threaten to cook him at least three times a week."

Bastard continued to laugh.

Callie took a drink of her own wine and smiled at everyone. "We're only three days from Saltmarsh, and we have had nothing but pleasant weather and a gentle wind at our backs. I'll be sorry to see the lot of you go." She coughed as Borassos passed her, then smiled again. "To the crew!" she toasted as the sun fell below the horizon.

Borassos drew the short straw and lingered near the mast on watch for the night. Their new friend Elgoth had retreated into the fo'c'sle to rest, while Rev and Ruanea settled down for the night up on the poop deck. They could hear Milo's peg leg thumping around in the cabin below them.

Rev took out her tin-pipe and began to play. Bastard flew down from the rigging and settled on her knee. He whistled along sweetly as she played the quiet tune. It had been an easy journey, and now they were only three days from port. She wasn't sure she trusted their new companion, but her own father had been shipwrecked, and only a breath away from death when her mother found him. He too had been a Moon Elf, but that was the only thing the two castaway men seemed to share. In all other respects, they couldn't have been more different. She missed her father on quiet nights like this, and the beautiful songs he used to sing.

_If you listen hard enough, Little Fish, the stars themselves will sing._

The twang of a loosed bowstring thrummed in her ears. Rev sprang to her feet as Bastard flew to the rigging. She stashed her flute and drew her rapier at the same time. On the deck, a goblin lay dead with an arrow in his eye. Elgoth smiled at his kill from the fo'c'sle like it was the first time he had tasted sweetness in decades. A second goblin carried a torch toward the main cabin while two more goblins climbed over the port rail.

A terrifying look came over Ruanea as her hand glowed blue and then shot out an icy ray toward the goblin with the torch. At the same time, Borassos shoved a goblin with one ear over the railing. It shouted as it landed in the water with a splash. Rev slid down the cabin ladder onto the main deck and ran up behind the frozen she-goblin holding the torch.

Rev tapped the goblin on the shoulder with the tip of her blade, and as the she-goblin turned in slow motion, she ran the little wench through.

Elgoth dropped his bow and used the rigging to swing down off the fo'c'sle and onto the deck. He drew his cutlass as a goblin with a short sword swung and missed, but he didn't see another goblin with a dagger slipping onto the deck. The goblin stabbed Elgoth in the foot, and the half-mad elf let out a wounded cry.

Ruanea answered with a smattering of magic missiles that sailed through the air leaving violet trails of light.

"Kill, kill, kill, kill!" Bastard shouted from the rigging, then screamed, the sound like a blaring alarm cutting through the still night.

Just then Milo burst out of the cabin wildly flailing with a meat cleaver and a small dagger.

"Second boat on the starboard side!" Ruanea shouted as a new goblin climbed over the starboard rail. They just kept coming. Ruanea shot another ice ray at the new attacker, while Milo chopped his cleaver through the rope holding the grappling hook on the port rail.

"Get the bloody hell off my ship, you pointy-eared bastards!" Milo shouted as the rowboat on the port side drifted away from the Northwind.

Borassos swung his hammer at a goblin wearing a pointed cap, but he missed. Rev ran to his side as Bastard grabbed the hat and pulled it down over the goblin's eyes. Rev stabbed him in the neck, and the goblin dropped dead on the worn planks of the old ship.

Elgoth looked down at his wounded foot and let out a scream of bloody rage. His presence swelled as he threw himself into the fray, ducking a blow from one of the goblins on the starboard side. One of the invaders slashed at Ruanea with a sword, but she twisted around and jabbed him with her dagger.

Now things were getting interesting. Rev didn't have a whole lot of faith in the ruthlessness of her new companions, but this was beginning to feel like old times. She hadn't been in a battle like this in ages, and her rapier felt thirsty.

Milo leaned over the rail and shook his fist at the departing rowboat. "Ye scum sucking leeches! I'll give you hell, you puss-laden goiters! Come back here so I can keel-haul your wart-ridden hides against the bottom of my ship!"

Bastard flew over and landed on Milo's shoulder. "Maroon the scum! Aye-aye, Captain! Come back here, you bastard bird!" he called, then wolf-whistled at the goblin in the rowboat.

Rev laughed as she saw Borassos bow his head and press his palms together. A flicker of light glowed above the goblins on deck, but it quickly fizzled out. It was up to her to clean up this mess.

She stabbed the goblin by Ruanea in the back of the leg, then pushed him over the rail. The goblin thrashed in the water, which drew the attention of a passing shark. Rev didn't spare the goblin a thought as the screaming and thrashing grew louder.

One of the goblins slashed Elgoth, just as a fat one ran at Borassos and stabbed him. Borassos cried out and lifted his hammer to smash the gob, but as he swung wildly, Rev twisted and thrust her rapier beneath his arm, stabbing the fat goblin straight through the heart.

Elgoth got a mad look in his eye as he stabbed the goblin in the foot, then ran his cutlass up the length of the goblin's leg. The goblin fell screaming to the deck. Elgoth then unhooked the grapple from the starboard rail and set loose the other rowboat.

The goblins set to their oars, shouting things to one another they were well away and escaping into the night. The Northwind was safe. Ruanea scowled, and her gold-green eyes glowed with power. "Not so easy," she muttered. "You won't escape alive." Ruanea blasted three more spikes of purple magic from her hands. The timbers of the rowboat creaked then splintered at the magic blast, throwing the goblins into the shark feeding frenzy below. As the glow faded from her hands, she looked pleased at the carnage she had wrought.

Elgoth and Borassos tended to their wounds as Milo climbed into the crow's nest and shouted useless orders from above. Callie calmly manned the till. Bastard flew to Rev's shoulder and preened her hair. She scratched his yellow head. "Glad you lived, my friend."

"Die, you yellow-livered bilge rat!" he said in a sing-song voice, then started whistling a shanty.

Goblins on the water, bold enough to attack a ship. That was new. She was anxious to get to Saltmarsh now. She felt something in her bones, a stirring restlessness. She felt on the threshold of a vast horizon. But what the future held she could not guess.

Elgoth limped toward her. He dipped his hand in the wounds of one of the dead goblins, then ran his fingers down her blade muttering something in his mysterious tongue.

"Was that a curse?" she asked. She wouldn't put it past him, but after fighting alongside him, she felt a strange kinship with the wild elf.

"For your enemies," he whispered.

Rev chuckled, then glanced at the port rail. The grappling hook still clung to the rail. Then she looked over at the stack of dead goblins. They had plenty of bait, and she had some rope.

"Let's go fishing," she said to her wild friend. "We'll have shark steak tonight."

# # #

It was a fair evening as they sailed into the port at Saltmarsh. The place had changed since Rev had last seen it. Fancy new estates sprung up like spring daisies on the outer banks. They had their own private docks to keep the wealthy ships away from the dock rats that scavenged for treasures in the night. That made things a lot less fun, but Rev wasn't in the mood for burgling ships.

Callie steered the ship into the main port with an expert hand as Milo barked orders and Bastard mocked him with endless calls of "Aye-aye, Captain!" Once they had the Northwind unloaded, they would be free. It made Rev sad to say goodbye. Callie gave her a hug inviting them all to sail on the Northwind again. Bastard preened the halfling woman's hair and cooed affectionately at her. When Milo tried to place a friendly hand on her shoulder, Bastard bit him.

It sent him into a string of curses that made Borassos laugh.

That's when Rev heard a voice she hadn't heard in years.

"Hallie! Hallie my girl!" Her heart raced as she turned and saw the rolling gait of a man that was like a father to her. He threw his arms wide as his face broke into a half-toothless wrinkled grin. His eye was glassed over with a milky white cataract from an old scar. "What news? Come, let me buy you and your friends an ale."

"Silvey," she hugged him, and he patted her back so hard she felt her heart stutter. "It's good to see you."

"Who is your friend, _Hallie_?" Ruanea asked raising one of her sculpted eyebrows.

"Don't," Rev warned. "Or you'll lose an eye."

Silvey didn't miss a beat. "The name's Silvereye, and if you be wanting a drink, best meet me at the Salty Fish."

They followed Silvey across the docks to a tavern that had been constructed from the bits and pieces of wrecked ships. Old timbers still creaked and shuddered in the breeze as if they were still rolling on the sea. Inside, the place smelled like burning fish oil and sweat, and the booming voices of the locals of Saltmarsh rattled the patched together walls.

Near the bar, faded letters from the name of an old ship spelled out _Jolly Shark_ in faded gold on the dead ship's timbers. Beneath it someone had painted an image of a crusty and irritated looking fish. The juxtaposition of the salty looking little fish with the moniker above it made a fine joke, which is how the Salty Fish earned its name.

Good on his word, Silvereye bought a round, and asked about her odd companions. When he got to Elgoth, the elf insisted on placing Fitzmina on the table and pouring a drink over the skull's head.

Silvey shrugged it off, saying he was only buying one, and it wasn't his business if the elf wanted to share.

There was a bountiful catch for the day, so the tavern was in high spirits as Silvereye caught them up on the comings and goings of Saltmarsh. He was interested in their account of the goblins that had attacked them in the night.

"That sounds like old One-Eye. He's a greasy old goblin who fashions himself a Pirate Prince. He keeps attacking fishing boats and trading vessels hoping to catch slaves to row his boats. Goblin's arms are too short to do good work of it. The Ke'laners from the north have run him off with their _navy._"

"There's a navy in Saltmarsh now?" Rev asked as Bastard made to tip over Silvey's tankard, but the old sea dog knew her parrot too well, and he scooped it up before her bird could see his plan through.

"If you can call a ship and a half a navy. But they had one victory, so the fishermen here are happy. I for one am sick of all the guards about. It used to be you could thump a man's head in the street at night and nick enough coin to pay for a tankard, but now that gets you tossed in the brig."

"How terribly civilized," Ruanea stated.

"Aye," Silvereye agreed. "It's done ruined the town. Used to be a man could make a good living smuggling through these ports. Now we have to be much more quiet about it." Silvereye gave the others a brief assessment of the town along with directions to shops and taverns that might hold their interest. Then he took Rev aside to speak in private.

"Ye'ave grown my girl. No longer the gangly young thing you were. You're the spitting image of your mother. What are you calling yourself now?"

"Those on the docks now know me as Rev," she said feeling a dark shadow come over her.

"Be it short for sumthin?" he leaned toward her with his white eye, because that was his good ear.

"I have named myself Revenge Blackwind." The words felt like a promise.

Silvey whistled low. "I like that ye'ave embraced your elfish heritage and chosen an adult name as they do, but the elves aren't usually so direct."

Rev just smiled. "I haven't known too many elves, have I?"

"No," he admitted. "Though your present company increases that number by two. Is that why you are with them?"

"They were good in a fight," she admitted. "I like Ruanea; though she would be loath to admit it, we have much in common. Borassos is quiet but kind, and Elgoth intrigues me. He reminds me of my father."

Silvey's good eye went wide. "The one with the scars and the tattoos? Your father was a beautiful man. He was so pretty half the _men_ on the Blackwind were in love with him. Including me!"

Rev snorted ale out of her nose. It burned. Oh, how it burned. She had to wipe the tears from her eyes. "Reminds me by contrast then, but I think there's something good about him, even if he doesn't know it yet."

Silvey shrugged.

"The truth is," Rev continued. "I have spent the last fifteen years searching for rumors of the person that betrayed my mother and father to their deaths. Only now it occurs to me. What would I do if I find them? I am tired of having naught but fifteen gold in my pocket that disappears into a tankard of rum and signing on to ships where I have to guard my life for the hope of a whisper of information. If I ever find my mother's betrayer, I want to destroy them. I want to steal everything they have ever loved and take it as my own. I want to watch them wither in misery and beg for death before I am done. I can't do that as a sailor, smuggler, and a thief. What would my mother say if she saw me now? Is this the life my father would have wanted for me?"

Silvey placed a fatherly hand on her shoulder. "Your mother would be pleased that you are a survivor. And your father spent fourteen years, all told, aboard the Blackwind. He was a pirate through and through, even though he was a pretty, singing one. Your parents would be proud of you my girl."

"Then why do I feel this way?" she asked.

"It's the call to adventure." Silvey leaned back. "You'll be needing two things."

Rev took a drink and waited for him to finish.

"Money, and power." Silvey counted them off on his fingers. "Be famous, or infamous. Become something great, so great that the ones who betrayed the Blackwind will hear your name whispered in hushed awe and know the storm is coming for them."

Rev nodded and Silvereye smiled.

"I'll do what I can to help. If I catch wind of an opportunity for fortune or fame, I will let you know. I look forward to the day when you set out on the sea every bit the pirate queen your mother was. Keep friends you trust close, and good luck, my girl."

She gave him a hug, folding into his stooped shoulders like she had done when she was little. "Thank you, my oldest friend."

**I thought it might be fun to add a little below the bar commentary on each chapter. Again, this is my first ever game of DnD, and I was thrilled to be able to play. Rev is obviously my character and I have never felt right about trying to portray the other characters through their POV, only Rev. So her perspective is the one I have to stick with through the whole story. Our DM is extremely creative and just a little goofy, so literally anything can happen in this game. This first week was setting the story to bring all of our characters together toward one mission. Elgoth's player is the only one with any experience. He's also a brilliant role-player, and comes up with the wildest things during our games. He is also a painfully nice guy who always plays the relentlessly good character. For the first time, he wanted to be an Edgelord. That dichotomy has made Elgoth one of my favorite characters. Both Ruanea and Borassos are played by much shyer individuals, and that has shaped the personality of the characters as these weeks have gone on. This was our first test at combat with the goblin attack on the Northwind, and for the most part, we did pretty well, though I think we were a little uncertain about what we were doing. The DM asked if he could take the character of the old sailor that survived with Rev and turn him into an NPC. I said okay, but I have some concerns that I might regret that decision at some point in the future. I hope you enjoy the tale. These early chapters are written from notes that I took during the games. Some of the later ones, I started recording our sessions so I could play more freely. I love hearing commentary from everyone. Please don't be shy. At the very least, I hope you enjoy reading about our misadventures.**


	2. Chapter 2

Dungeons & Dragons/Saltmarsh

Episode 2

The next morning Silvereye made good on his promise to send adventure Rev's way. It surprised her that her traveling companions from the Northwind had joined her at a table in the Salty Fish, or had she joined them? In the end it didn't matter, as they all gathered together at breakfast. Perhaps it was just the comfort of familiar faces. She glanced at Borassos stroking his moustache while Elgoth placed Fitzmina on the table. The tattoos on his face looked even more stark now that his sunburn had faded. Ruanea idly polished her crystal globe while Bastard swayed back and forth on the table with his wings out trying to impress his reflection within it.

They were an odd company to say the least.

"Rev!" Silvereye stumbled across the tavern. "Rev my girl. Have you met Merantha yet?" He sat next to her and threw a companionable arm over her shoulders. "She just came overland through the mangroves and says old Ferrin has an opportunity for those that don't mind a bit of danger. I told her you and your friends might be interested."

The word "friends" sat strangely in her ears as she looked around the table, but after the goblin attack, she would trust the motley bunch in battle.

Silvereye waved over a human woman with long dark hair. Her clothes were augmented with bits and baubles tied to leather, spellcasters charms. She sat down with them as if she were naturally a part of their party. In all fairness, one more strange soul seemed to make the party complete. Bastard waddled over to her and toyed with one of the charms. She didn't pay much attention to him.

Rev decided to let him have his fun as the strange woman spoke. "Ferrin Kastilar, leader of the people that live in the sea grove of Obad'hai says he has work for anyone daring enough to undertake it."

"What sort of work?" Ruanea asked. It was the first time she had acknowledged there was another person in their midst, even though she hadn't looked up, and continued polishing her globe.

"He says that the elves of the Thornwood had something dangerous escape their borders. It's now causing some trouble in the marshes to the north. Ferrin is concerned it might eventually move closer to the mangroves… or town. He's offering gold for any souls that can confront the fiend." Merantha leaned her elbows on the table and crossed her arms, pulling the charm out of Bastard's beak. He squawked as his pupils narrowed to pinpoints in his fiery eyes.

Rev grabbed him and plunked him on the far corner of the table before he could bite. He climbed up on Fitzmina and sulked in a poof of green feathers.

Merantha didn't seem to notice how close she was to losing a piece of her elbow. "I offered to confront the creature myself," she explained. "But he insisted this was a task too great for just one person. Will you help me destroy this monstrosity for an even split of the gold?"

Elgoth leaned forward. "You had me at gold," he said with his snake-like inflection.

"You had _me_ at destruction." Ruanea tucked her globe away.

Borassos just shrugged as if he had nothing better to do with his time.

Rev remembered what Silvereye said about becoming either rich enough, or infamous enough, to confront her mother's betrayers. She looked over at Silvereye. "Is this Ferrin to be trusted?"

"Oh aye," he said. "Ferrin's known to be trustworthy." He scratched his head. "Which may be why we don't cross paths often, but if he says he's offering gold, he'll be good for it. Well, I'll leave you to it, and I'll continue to keep an ear out." He limped away, wincing every time his foot hit the floor. Rev wasn't sure if it was an old injury or gout.

"It looks like we're in," Rev said to Merantha. "Give us an hour to prepare, and we'll go to meet with this Ferrin."

After an hour of shopping in town, Rev felt slightly ill. She wasn't sure if it was the curse that was rumored to effect elves who cross the old Shark Fin Bridge, or if she was just hungover. Either way, she was glad to get on about their business.

Elgoth managed to procure a long leather coat with his meager sums. Unfortunately, it had holes in it stained with blood that was fresh enough to retain its red hue. Rev wasn't sure if that was a good omen, but the strange elf seemed to think the spirit of the former owner would be benevolent. Either way, a bloodstained coat certainly suited the bizarre castaway as he tucked Fitzmina back into her pouch. He still didn't own a shirt. With the coat on, Rev could glimpse the scars and tattoos criss-crossing his abdomen and chest as he moved around. She found the teasing glimpses distracting and tried to clear her head.

Once stocked with some fresh supplies, they followed Merantha north through town until they came to the outskirts. In the distance they could see the thick trees of a wood, but as they approached, it became clear that this was no ordinary wood, but a mangrove swamp.

The trees perched up on the toes of their roots, holding their twisting trunks high above the water like old fishwives digging clams in the muddy washes. Beneath the maze of roots, grassy swaths of dark water reflected the trees above, while long beards of golden moss hung from the branches. The clatter of sea birds filled the air, and Bastard flew from tree to tree, joining in the racket.

Near the high banks of the road, a small cluster of ramshackle houses had been built on the stilts of old mangrove roots. Small boats floated beneath them as a halfling with no shirt or shoes dangled a line into the dark water. Five or six dead snakes, nearly as long as the man was tall, hung from pegs nailed into the trunk of the tree.

As they neared the largest hut, someone shouted from inside. "Loris! Loris. We got us some company."

A shaggy haired halfling emerged from the doorway wearing an old red vest that had faded to a dusty shade of pink and a pair of worn trousers that had frayed so much around his ankles they looked like they were sewn with cuffs of stringy hair. He wore no shirt, and didn't seem embarrassed by the lack, as a fat bullfrog the size of his head hopped up into his hands and let out a bellowing croak. "Loris, there's you. Come greet our visitors."

"Are you Ferrin?" Ruanea laughed, giving the man a doubtful look. Rev didn't blame her, it didn't look like this man had a penny to his name, let alone a hearty stash of gold.

"Aye-ah, people round these parts call me Ferrin. Isn't that right Loris?" he said to the fat frog, then he scowled at us. "What are you lookin' at her for? Bullfrogs can't talk. Ya come for rations. I tell you what, we've got dried fish, some fine snake jerky, tasty frog's legs…now don't you mind none, Loris… and some of the finest swamp chicken you ever tasted. We also sell Ugly Fruit, if you've a mind for something sweeter."

"Swamp chicken?" Ruanea raised one sculpted eyebrow.

Rev wasn't sure she wanted to know, considering on the foul side of the docks, the criminals and low-lifes often referred to rats as bilge chicken.

"Sweet?" Elgoth moaned. "What is this fruit you speak of. My lips haven't tasted sweetness since the blood of…" he suddenly noticed they were all staring at him.

Loris croaked.

They heard a thump behind them, and Rev drew her dagger as she turned. A lumpy brown fruit with ridges along the sides had fallen onto the path and leaked a vivid purple juice onto the dirt road. Bastard flew down from the tree and started messily eating through the outer layer until he had his entire head buried into the purple flesh. It stained his yellow face a vivid magenta.

Elgoth stalked toward the parrot.

"Now, now, best leave that one for the bird. Try this." Ferrin plucked one of the Ugly Fruits off the tree and tossed it to Elgoth. The elf smashed it into his mouth as the juice rolled down his face, staining his skin purple. His eyes rolled back in pleasure. Ruanea recoiled, and Merantha looked on the verge of losing her breakfast.

"Ha!" Ferrin slapped his knee. "I do like a man that enjoys his food."

Merantha shook herself out of her disgust. "We've come about the job you offered me, to hunt down the creature in the marshes."

"Ah!" He gave them all an appraising look. "Ain't nobody in town that gives me my due around here. All those townsfolk down there, they don't ever know what sorts of nasty things old Ferrin here has stopped from disturbing things. The elves from up in the Thornwood say something bad has escaped their borders. Now I just be doin' my job here, even if the folk in town never notice. There's something right horrible, but there's enough of y'uns might have a chance. If ye can get rid of it, I've got a purse with one hundred gold, and old Ferrin's good for it. Ain't nobody never said Ferrin weren't a man good on his word. Isn't that right Loris?" He patted the bullfrog. "What are y'all lookin' at. She's just a bullfrog. She don't talk. Now what you gotta do is walk up the road about twenty clicks and then you'll see a path. Follow the path and at the end, that's where you'll find it. Best be off then. Might take you 'bout half the day to find it. Good luck, and I hope to be seein' you again real soon, if at all."

"Twenty clicks?" Borassos asked.

"The sound my right knee makes every third step or so." Ferrin swung his knee back and forth, producing a clicking pop. "Go about twenty of thems, and you'll see the path."

Merantha led the way down the road as Elgoth attempted to match his stride to the length of 'a click'. Once they had traveled down the road "a ways," they saw no sign of a path, only open weedy marshes with reeds nearly as tall as they were.

Ferrin popped out of the weeds, startling Borassos. "What are you doin' walking past. The path is right here." He pointed at the reeds.

There was no path. And Rev had no clue how the little man managed to beat them to the path unseen.

"What path?" Borassos said as he looked out over the grassy marshes. He took a step forward, and his shoe sunk deep into the mud. Rev peered at the ground, while Elgoth picked up a stick. She tested the ground near Ferrin, and it was solid, but it didn't look any different than the reedy mud to either side of it. Elgoth tested it with the stick. Sure enough, some of the ground was solid, but the ground just beside it was a mire. This would be slow going.

Rev hoped it would be worth the trouble.

"Now just stay on the path, and you'll find it." Ferrin waved them on as they began the long trek through the marsh.

Thankfully it was a beautiful day. The sun shone over the marshes, turning the estuaries into glittering paths of silver through the rippling grasses and reeds. Birdsong filled the air, and Bastard happily joined in, trilling and whistling from his perch on Rev's shoulder. Occasionally he broke the song with maniacal cackling laughter right in her ear, but for the most part, their careful prodding of the path with Elgoth's stick kept them steadily moving forward.

Rev felt the tension creep up her neck. Things were going a little too well.

"Wolves!" Merantha suddenly shouted, pointing at a mangy gray creature ahead of them on the path. A flashing bolt of light flew from Merantha toward the wolf, but it struck the reeds to the side of the path. The wolf yelped in alarm and cowered.

"There's two more behind us," Elgoth called as he pulled his blade with a smile.

Rev focused on the wolf ahead of them. Pulling her blade, she lifted her arms and yelled as she ran forward. "Go on, you mangy flea-bitten poor excuse for a rug!" Bastard flew off her shoulder screaming his ear-splitting scream as he swooped over the wolf's head. The beast yelped and retreated up the path with its tail between its legs.

Rev turned to see the two wolves behind them charge at Elgoth. He let out a wild laugh as green flames erupted down the length of his blade, then leapt off his sword as he swung it through the air. One of the wolves yelped as the fur on its back caught on fire. "Fitzmina, it works!" he cackled.

Borassos huddled over and prayed, and once again blue flames flickered above the wolves, but then fizzled out.

"You need to work on that one," Merantha called to him as a burst of crackling energy shot from her hands, and again, landed in the weeds.

"And you need to work on your aim," Borassos called to her.

Elgoth took a second wild swing at the wolves, but the green flames on his blade sputtered out.

Bastard left the wolf ahead of them and flew low over their heads squawking, "Kill! Kill! Kill!" He flapped toward the nearest wolf, and the growling creature hunched down then leapt forward snapping at her parrot.

"Oh, hell, no." Rev ran forward with her blade. "Not the bird!" Just as the wolf lunged at Bastard, she thrust her rapier forward, and pierced the wolf through the mouth straight through its brain.

At the same moment, Ruanea let out a feral shout and pulled her dagger. She grabbed the singed wolf by the scruff and slashed its throat. It fell to the ground in a bloody mass of matted fur.

Elgoth laughed. "Not bad with a blade, for a spell caster."

"I did _not_ see that coming," Borassos admitted. Ruanea cleaned her knife on the wolf's fur, stashed her dagger, and continued on as if nothing had happened.

Not too far down the path, the third wolf emerged, stalking them through the reeds. Merantha took a page from Ruanea's book, and threw her dagger, hitting the wolf in the ear. Elgoth stabbed it, finishing the wolf off.

"Sometimes there's nothing as effective as a blade," he said.

"To that, I agree." Rev looked ahead. "We have to be close to the end of the path."

Just then a sound, almost like a bird song floated through the air. Bastard landed back on her shoulder and started singing a filthy sea shanty. "Bastard, would you please be quiet."

She wanted to hear the strange bird song. Ruanea, Elgoth, and Merantha stared transfixed ahead, then walked in a strange daze toward the noise.

"Ooooooooooohhhhhhh! Peg-leg Bill was a randy rake," Bastard sang in a warbling voice. "Who liked to give his peg a shake!"

"Bastard please!" Rev called jogging forward with a befuddled Borassos, who twisted his little finger in his ear.

"It's the most beautiful sound I've ever heard," Elgoth said. "Don't you agree, Fitzmina?"

"It's unlike anything I have ever witnessed," Ruanea agreed.

Something was very wrong here. Suddenly Rev was glad for her bird's off-color singing. "He could find an oyster but not the pearl!" Bastard warbled. "So he could never please a giiiiiirrrrrrrllllllllll. Ahahahahahahahahaha!"

Elgoth seemed to shake off the trance, but Merantha and Ruanea kept walking steadily toward a muddy slope leading down to a pool of water. It was surrounded by a fifteen foot cliff with a thick wood circling the depressed pit.

Ruanea glided over the mud with elven grace, until she stepped into the edge of the pool, and her feet stuck in the mud. Merantha, didn't have such luck and slipped down the muddy slope, splashing into the pool. She sputtered as she woke from her trance, sending muddy water flying. "What is going on here?" she called up the slope.

"Whatever it is, it can't be good," Borassos shouted back. Elgoth pulled a rope out from under the folds of his new, bloodstained, ripped up, leather coat. He tied a loop in it. "We have to get them back."

Rev took the rope and slid down the bank as Bastard flew up into the trees singing, "He could find an oyster but not the peaaaaaaarrrrrrlllllllllllllll!"

"Damn it, bird, now is not the time!" Rev tied the rope around Ruanea, who was still charmed by the strange song floating in the air. It seemed to give her fortitude, as she continued to pull deeper into the water.

Elgoth and Borassos pulled with all of their might, tugging her back out of the water. She finally shook off the enchantment, then used the rope to haul herself back up the slope. Rev grabbed her own silk rope from her belt, and tossed it up to the others, but Borassos didn't catch it and it slid helplessly down the slope. Rev looped it back and tied the muddy line to her belt.

"Here, catch this!" Ruanea tossed down Elgoth's line, and Rev helped tie it around Merantha's waist. The others hauled her up to the top of the slope, leaving Rev ankle deep in the sticky mud.

She knew something was waiting for her. She could feel its anticipation. Rev got a copper out of her bag and flicked it with a sharp twitch of her thumb into the muddy pool. "Take that, you fiend. It's all you'll get from us."

Just then an otherworldly screech, split Rev's ears. A creature with enormous gray wings flew toward her. With a twisted face, and empty black eyes, the creature screamed as it flew over the pool. It vaguely resembled a naked elf woman, but its hair was matted and tangled with blood. It carried a heavy femur of some unfortunate creature in its clawed hands, while the lower half of its body looked covered in reptilian scales. The beast swiped at her with its claws, but Rev shifted her weight and dodged the Harpy's attack. The bird-woman lifted the heavy bone club and swung. The blow cracked into Rev's skull, and Rev fell to her knees. Searing pain shot through her skull like a bolt of lightning.

The next thing Rev knew, she was looking up into Borassos' face as he held a hand out to her. There was a glow around him, and whatever pain from the Harpy's blow melted away. She was healed.

She took his hand. "Thank you, my friend." He nodded at her with a smile under his moustache.

"Glad to finally help." He pulled her upright.

Three purple shards of magic flew over their heads and hit the harpy, sinking into her body and rippling through her flesh as she screamed.

A crackling blast of energy followed, but it crashed into the trees where Bastard had perched. He squawked as Merantha scowled from the top of the muddy slope.

"I told you to work on your aim!" Borassos called.

But Rev's focus honed into a fire of pure rage within her. She drew her rapier and turned to the harpy hovering near them. "Oh, I'm mad now you bitch!" She stabbed the harpy in the thigh as it howled. Blood dripped down the monster's leg.

Borassos moved along the bank and tucked his head in prayer, but the fire he called from the heavens spilled down through the air as the harpy dodged quickly to the left. The fire fizzled, and Borassos cursed.

Ruanea launched more of her purple missiles from the bank, hitting the harpy with the same rippling magic. The beast screamed in pain.

That's when Merantha gathered another blast of charged energy but got so excited that she tripped on the muddy bank. The blast shot off her elbow, then ricocheted off a tree, and finally hit the harpy in the chest. The bird-woman screeched and fell from the sky in a lump of singed wings. The body twitched as their party inspected the fallen beast.

"Oh, now she hits it," Borassos mumbled. "Maybe she should always bounce her spells off a tree."

Ruanea laughed under her breath as she helped to pull them all out of the mud.

Together they worked their way around the ledge and discovered the harpy's nest on the other side. There was naught but dried bones in the fiend's nest. It was clear she had been using the pool as a trap to lure creatures to their death. Elgoth burned the nest with his green flames and cut off the harpy's wings to show Ferrin.

After watching the nest burn, they made their way back to the mangroves.

Ferrin greeted them with a whooping holler. "So y'uns done killed the harpy?"

Elgoth tossed the severed wings at his feet.

He whistled. "Well, Loris, will you look at that." The fat bullfrog hopped up and stared blankly at the wings. Ferrin scowled at Elgoth. "What are you lookin' at her for, frogs don't talk."

"Our gold?" Merantha insisted.

"Oh, yes yes yes." He pulled a heavy sack of gold out and tossed it to Merantha. "So, you found and defeated her, but who did she get?"

Borassos scratched his head.

"Ya heard the song, didn't ya? Most beautiful thing you could ever hear." Ruanea and Merantha looked slightly embarrassed that they had been taken in by the spell.

"Oh yes, her _song_," Elgoth said. "Her song was quite captivating." Elgoth cleared his throat.

Ferrin laughed as he held his hands out in front of his chest like he were carrying a pair of melons. "Too hard to think about nothin' else when her _song's_ right there."

"He could find an oyster but not the pearl!" Bastard sang again and Ferrin laughed so hard he slapped his knee.

"I tell you what, the next time you are in town, you tell the owner of the Salty Fish that y'uns one of us now. Hear that. Don't let her rob you. She don't charge us more than a silver for the night. "Y'uns us." He gave them a stern nod, then a wide smile, and clapped Borassos on the back before sending the party off.

Back at the Salty Fish, the innkeeper eventually made good on Ferrin's promise and they stayed the night for cheap.

The next morning, Rev looked around for Silvereye. She wanted to tell him about their victory against the harpy, but he was nowhere to be found. Instead a small scrappy boy ran in to the pub.

"Oy, you Rev?" he called. "Aye've a message from Silvereye. He said to meet him at the boarded-up house on the outside of town."

That was odd.

Rev quelled her suspicions as she tossed the boy a silver. She had been a poor street urchin once. He brightened and ran off.

Why didn't Silvey just meet them here?

**Commentary: Week two introduced us to Merantha, who is played by the wife of our DM. Her work schedule makes it hard for her to be there every week, so it has been a challenge writing her in and out of various weeks where she wasn't an active player. It has made things interesting in the story. She is also new to D&D but enthusiastic about playing as best she can. I have had fun creating new verses for Bastard's song. I enjoy writing limericks, and this is a similar exercise. The song does have a specific tune in my head, and I find myself singing it from time to time. Bastard is based on my experiences working as a zookeeper in the Birds department of a wildlife park. He is a double yellow-headed Amazon, which I always found to be the boldest and brashest of the birds I worked with. I also really enjoyed the introduction of Ferrin and Loris. My DMs creativity and willingness to act out some very silly role playing makes for a very fun game. The harpy did knock me out with one swing, but to be fair, Rev was still level one at this point. Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

Dungeons & Dragons/Saltmarsh

Episode 3

Rev had a very bad feeling that something was wrong. Perhaps she should have questioned the boy that ran off with her silver, but her mercy had been her undoing. Her mother had taught her to be ruthless, but not heartless. At the moment, it cost her.

"I think Silvereye is in trouble," she said to the others.

"Why do you think that?" Merantha asked, leaning on her quarter-staff.

"Because he _never_ leaves the pub." Rev found her stomach twisting with worry. Silvereye had single-handedly saved her from the wreck of her mother's ship. For the last fifteen years, he had been like a father to her. If he was in trouble, she had to save him. "I think he may be in danger. We have to find him."

Elgoth was the first to respond. "He did lead us to the job with Ferrin which brought us gold."

That was true, but she could tell that the others were struggling to commit to saving the old man without a promise for profit.

Rev looked around at her companions as Bastard tenderly preened the hair behind her ear. He knew she was upset and was trying to comfort her. "He's the closest thing to a family I have left," she said simply. "I'm going to go after him. Will anyone join me?" They looked away. Rev's heart felt like it was about to break. "Please." The word was one of the hardest for her to say.

Elgoth stepped forward. "Fitzmina and I will help you," he murmured, stroking a thumb over one of his raised scars on his cheek.

Merantha stepped forward, though she looked unsure. She had sent everything Ferrin had given her with a messenger to some family in a distant land. She couldn't afford to waste her time on something that didn't pay. Still, she rose and joined them, and for that, she earned Rev's admiration. Borassos nodded and stood, and Ruanea looked peeved.

"If I must," she grumbled, getting up from her table. "So, where is this old abandoned house?"

Borassos asked the innkeeper and he said simply to walk out of town and follow the cliffs.

Sure enough, the paths out of town rose in elevation from the docks. In the wallows, the townsfolk had built raised walkways to avoid the mud. During high tide, it looked like this part of town floated delicately on the sheen of water. During low tide, it was miserable. Instead of floating on water, the buildings here looked like they were rotting knee deep in fetid mud. The planks of the boardwalks creaked under their feet as their party made their way out toward the cliffs. The tide had gone out sometime that morning. With the tide out, the whole place stank of sun-warmed, dying seagrass and rotting crustaceans. Biting insects rose in clouds from the rotting vegetation just below the planks.

"I can see why this house is abandoned," Ruanea complained as she swatted at a fly.

But as their paths rose to a narrow trail along the cliff edge, things became more bearable, even pretty. It didn't take long for them to find a decrepit house sitting on the cliffs overlooking the bay. A garden wall surrounded the house but had crumbled in sections, giving them a view of the stone lower story, and the ramshackle wooden structure above. At one time, it must have been a grand old farmhouse to rival any of the new estates on the other side of the docks. With three wings and a broad porch, the house once must have looked wealthy and inviting. Now decades of smugglers had used the place as a hideout, uncaring of the damage that rough living and nature had done to the old structure.

The wind picked up and an iron gate creaked as they stepped through one of the low places in the garden wall. At one time the garden might have been beautiful too. But flowering trees and shrubs had gone feral without anyone to tend them. A single rose bush with blooms the color of fresh-spilled blood, piled in a tangled mass of thorns at least six feet high. It was both beautiful and terrible in its wild ferocity. Rev ducked down to peer under the skirt of the foliage and noticed a large burrow beneath the shelter of the thorns.

Elgoth inspected a stone well as Ruanea peered through the cracks of one of the boarded-up windows. "There's just a bit of broken furniture. It looks abandoned."

"I don't see a way in," Merantha added.

"Are you sure your friend, he's alive?" Elgoth asked still peering down the well.

"He's dead!" Bastard answered in a cheery voice from her shoulder. Rev grabbed his beak.

"Maybe you should call out to see if he is here?" Elgoth eyed her bird as he struggled in her grip.

"This feels like a trap." Rev let go of Bastard. "I don't think we should alert whatever is inside to our presence." Next time an urchin came to her with an urgent message, she'd be more careful in the questioning.

A chittering sound came from a crumbling wooden shed in the corner of the gardens. They all turned at once. In the doorway of the rotting structure, a weasel the size of a large dog rose up on its back legs. It cocked its head, then hissed at them.

Elgoth threw his hands up and hissed back at the creature, but it didn't retreat. Instead in ran up in an undulating wave of its body and attempted to bite Elgoth on the ankle. Caught off guard, Elgoth swung at the beast with his cutlass, but the squirrely beast was too fast for him. Ruanea glared at the creature and shot icy frost from her hands, but again, the weasel was too quick. It jumped out of the way and ran toward Borassos.

He pulled out his hammer and gave it a low sweeping swing as if playing a lawn game and the beast was the ball. They heard a loud crack as the hammer met the elongated creature's ribs.

They were making too much noise. Rev had to end this before it was too late for Silvey. She pulled her rapier and stabbed the beast through the heart. It let out a high-pitched squeal of pain.

To her horror, Rev heard a rustling behind her, and three more weasels slinked out from under the giant rose bush. Rev danced in a sweeping turn, avoiding the first weasel, but her friends were not so quick or lucky. One leapt up, biting Elgoth on the arm, while another latched itself onto Borassos' leg.

"Come get these," Ruanea called to the beasts as a trio of lights bloomed to life in front of her. She made them dance away from their party. Thankfully the weasels that had just taken chunks out of Borassos and Elgoth pranced merrily after the playful balls. They twisted and writhed as they tried to catch the lights in their sharp teeth.

But the weasel near Rev was not amused.

Elgoth screamed and seemed to grow bigger as he took a wild swing with his cutlass at the beast near Rev, she avoided his blade while Borassos pulled his shield around, preparing for the fight. Rev focused on the weasel in front of her, and using the motion from her companions, she twisted her rapier in harmony, stabbing the enormous weasel through the eye. It fell dead at Elgoth's feet.

Bastard launched off her shoulder crying "Kill! Kill! Kill!" as he flew straight toward the twisting pile of weasels still playing with the dancing lights.

"Bastard, no!" Rev cried, but it was too late. Bastard landed on one of the weasels, taking a chunk out of the ermine's ear. The weasel, that was at least seven times the size of the bird twisted his flexible body around, aiming his sharp claws and teeth at her parrot.

Merantha took her quarter staff and swung at the weasel wrestling with Bastard, a writhing mass of chestnut fur and bright green feathers, but the fighting animals passed underneath her weapon. Ruanea emitted a second blast of cold, and both animals screamed as the frost hit them. The icy blast sent the tumbling pair toward Elgoth, who stabbed the weasel with his cutlass.

Bastard's face was covered in blood as he marched up the twitching body of the dead weasel. He ruffled his feathers, flapped his wings and shouted, "Mine!" Then bit the weasel's ear and shook his head violently back and forth.

Borassos turned his attention to the weasel that was still distracted by the bouncing orbs of light. "Now, with your blessing," he whispered to whatever god he prayed to. "I finally have my chance."

He bowed his head in prayer, and a gleam of blue flame appeared above the weasel. The glow of victory crossed Borassos' face, but once again the flame fizzled out without harm.

"Oh, come on!" he shouted.

Rev drew her dagger and threw it at the last weasel. Between Borassos angrily stomping on the ground and cursing his god, and Rev's blade that landed just shy of his head, the weasel decided it was best to run back into his burrow.

Rev walked over and retrieved her dagger as the lingering heat from Borassos' spell curled the tips of her hair.

Elgoth looked up at the house. "That was quite a bit of noise, and yet your friend does not come out to meet us."

Ruanea rolled her eyes and Merantha leaned on her staff in disbelief, as Rev stood and turned toward their strange friend. "Like I said before, this doesn't feel right. I believe Silvereye is in danger."

"He's dead!" Bastard trilled in a sing-song voice.

Borassos wandered through the garden to the back of the house and motioned to the rest of them. Away from the cliffs, a bright meadow stretched out in a grassy knoll dotted with wildflowers. Even this view would have been beautiful to the owners of the house at one time. It was sad to see such a pretty estate in such disrepair. On the back side of the house a small porch tucked in against the north wing. It sheltered a rotting wooden door.

Elgoth stepped forward and tried the handle. The door pushed open easily, letting out a creaking groan as it did so. Bastard cuddled closer to Rev's ear. Beyond the door was an empty room, lit only by the slants of sunlight streaking through the boarded-up window. Plaster peeled from the wooden slats of the walls crumpling in dusty heaps, but there didn't seem to be anything threatening within the room.

Elgoth put one toe through the threshold and tried his weight on the wooden floor. It creaked beneath him. Rev let out a breath of relief and felt Merantha's sigh beside her.

"WELCOME FOOLS! WELCOME TO YOUR DEATHS!" A booming voice rattled through the house, sending more flakes of plaster crumbling off the deteriorating walls.

"Hi!" Bastard cheerfully called. "How are you?"

In spite of her parrot's cheerful greeting, Ruanea and Merantha cowered behind Borassos, clearly shaken by the voice. To their credit, they did not run.

Elgoth kicked open the only door in the room, and they peered down a long hallway. Rev took in every detail looking for traps but didn't see anything suspicious. Still, it was best to remain cautious.

They peered into the first room they came to and discovered nothing but an old desk. The room must have been a study at one time. Elgoth carefully opened the drawers, brushing aside some yellowed papers and receipts. He tapped the drawer with the pommel of his cutlass, and a secret compartment sprang open with a pair of healing potions inside.

Rev supposed it was better than poison, which she would have expected considering their greeting. The room across the hall from the study was clearly the library. Old bookshelves lined the walls. Rev checked them for hidden traps and passages as Elgoth and Ruanea inspected the books. Most were either so mold stained, or worm ridden they were near useless, but a couple still were decipherable.

"_Magical Properties of Gemstones_, another about herbs, both by Archmage Tenser. Also _The Metaphysics of Mathematics_ by Archmage Nystol. Are you familiar with these?" Ruanea asked.

"These were two of the most accomplished archmages of the past. Their writings are rare and significant," Elgoth muttered. He peered at the books as if he couldn't quite remember how to read the hand script written within. As he turned one upside down to stare at the script, a handwritten note fell out.

He handed it to the group, and they peered at it in the dim light. Rev was glad for the vision she inherited from her father as she stared at the rotted and stained note. Only two words were clearly visible toward the end of the script.

"_beyond skeletons."_

"Well, that's not ominous at all," Merantha noted, as Ruanea tucked the books into her bag.

With caution, they left the library and came to the end of the hall that opened up into the main entrance to the estate. The large room had a second hall leading into the east wing, and one leading to the north wing of the house. A rotting staircase to the left led to a second story, but the bannister had half fallen onto the floor below.

Elgoth rubbed the scar on his cheek. "I have not seen your friend," he whispered.

"He's deeeeeaaaaaad!" Bastard sang, and this time Rev grabbed him by the feet and hung him upside down. He squawked in protest, then climbed back up her sleeve to his perch next to her ear.

The east wing proved mostly empty, except for some potentially tasty mushrooms growing near a fireplace and a couple of chunks of blue quartz they found hidden behind a loose stone.

The north wing seemed equally empty as they inspected the first of the rooms there. For a house that promised their looming death, not much had happened to them. Rev still remained cautious of traps, but their party had become bolder.

Elgoth seemed fairly cavalier as he entered a room with two stuffed armchairs. Holes had been eaten into the stuffing while cobwebs stretched from the chairs to the fireplace in front of them. This might have been a cozy room to sit, once.

Elgoth ran his hand over the mantle, trailing his fingertips through the dust. "Nothing here," he said when a dark shadow seemed to spill out of the flue of the fireplace.

It took Rev a minute to realize the shadow wasn't a shadow at all, but a swarm of hundreds of spiders.

Elgoth made a keening sound as he picked up the edges of his long coat and slashed wildly at the bugs. Borassos also started swinging at the bugs with his hammer, but it was no use, the arachnids scuttled over the floor and walls in a mass that continued to spread throughout the room.

"Here, Borassos, take some notes," Merantha called as she swept her quarter staff and a flame emerged effortlessly in the air. It filled the room with a holy glow before it descended on one single spider out of the mass. It went up in a poof of smoke.

"Remarkably effective," Borassos called.

"Perhaps you can hit them if I freeze them first," Ruanea shouted, but her blast of ice just formed a layer of long icicles on the mantle of the fireplace.

Elgoth danced around the room wildly slapping the flat side of his blade against the floor and walls, squishing the spiders as he screamed like a terrified child.

Borassos pulled out his shield and tried to squish them with it, but the spiders swarmed in a mass over it. Borassos shouted in horror and tried to back up, but he couldn't shake the spiders off. The air crackled around Merantha as she gathered the energy to blast the spiders, but her blast crashed into the boarded-up window, shattering the rotting wood and flooding the room with light.

"Aim, will you!" Borassos shouted.

Ruanea tried to step around the spiders creeping over the floor as she attempted to freeze them, but in her distraction, she only managed to freeze her own fingertips.

Rev smacked at the swarm. "Bastard, crunchy!" she yelled. Her bird flew down and pecked at the leggy little creatures. One by one they found death in his beak.

Finally, Elgoth gave up on his sword and just stomped on as many of the bugs as he could see. Borassos effectively used his hammer to splatter a hefty portion of the swarm, and the rest found death beneath Merantha's blue fire.

"Well, that was not unpleasant at all," Rev said as she leaned back against the fireplace. A stone came loose, and behind it, she found a box with some coppers and alchemist powders.

"Tasty!" Bastard bobbed his head up and down as he swallowed a fat spider whole.

"I was expecting to have to fight something with a little more heft," Merantha admitted, standing a bit taller than she had before. She didn't seem nearly as trepidatious as she had been.

"Don't borrow trouble," Borassos warned.

At the end of the hall they found the kitchen. Dusty and unused, old pots and rusted out stove rotted in the corner. A narrow servant's staircase that was missing a few treads came down into the room. A stone basin sat under a window that might have had a pretty view of the meadow if the window weren't nailed shut with boards. Beside the basin was a cabinet that smelled like mildew and rotting garbage. Ruanea peeked inside.

A giant centipede crawled out of a crack in the foundation and hissed at her.

Elgoth swung wildly at it with way more vigor than a single insect warranted. When he finally came to his senses, the multi-legged beast had been reduced to bleeding insect chunks and twitching legs all over the room. Elgoth continued wildly swinging even though the creature was clearly dead.

"Easy man," Borassos said, raising his shield.

Elgoth finally came to his senses and peered around at the carnage. "I don't like bugs."

"Funny," Ruanea muttered. "I thought you ate them."

Elgoth glared at her as he crossed the room to open the other door. Inside was a small pantry with some broken crockery in the corner and stairs leading into a dark cellar. "If I were going to hide bodies in a death house," Elgoth muttered. "I would hide them in the cellar."

Bastard let out a low whistle.

"Everyone hush," Ruanea said moving closer to the stairs. "Let me listen."

The party fell quiet straining their ears until all they could hear was the quiet beating of their own hearts.

"Ooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh!" Bastard sang at the top of his lungs. "Peg Leg Bill was a randy rake! Who liked to give his peg a shake!"

Everyone in the party groaned.

"He could find an oyster but not the PEEEEAAAAAAARRRRRRLLLLLLLL!"

"Bastard!" the party all screamed at him at once. Rev reached for him, but he tangled himself in her hair clinging to the spot right between her shoulders where she couldn't reach him.

For a moment there was quiet again and everyone let out a relieved breath.

"So he could never please a girl!" Bastard sang-shouted and let out a victorious squawk that pierced their ears.

"Well," Merantha said, rubbing her ear. "That would have woken the dead. I don't think there's anything down there."

Elgoth tested the first step. It creaked. Suddenly a tortured scream filled the air, and Elgoth shook as he stumbled backward into the rest of them. "I'm fine, I'm fine," he said while visibly shaking, but to his credit, he led the way down the stair in spite of his fear.

A knot twisted low in Rev's stomach. The tortured screams sounded like Silvey. She prayed he was still alive. If she lost him, she wouldn't have anyone. Bastard tucked close to the side of her face again, and she stroked his wing.

The putrid smell of death greeted them as they inched down the stairs. At the bottom they found themselves in a dusty wine cellar. The bottle racks lining the north and west walls were empty with broken glass littering the floor in front of them. A pair of empty crates stood at the bottom of the stairs. None of that seemed significant compared to the bloated and rotting corpse lying in the middle of the room.

"He's dead!" Bastard announced.

Rev took a quick step forward, scared that the corpse might be Silvey, but Ruanea threw a hand out in front of her. Once her shock and panic wore off, she noticed that this pile of rotting flesh was wearing plate armor and a crumpled adventurer's pack. This wasn't her salty old sea-dog friend.

Elgoth pulled his skull out of her sack. "Fitzmina, scout ahead." He tucked his fingers in her eye sockets and hooked his thumb over her teeth then bowled the skull across the room. Fitzmina hit the corpse, and for a moment nothing happened.

Elgoth took a hesitant step toward the corpse, when the rotting lump of flesh's chest rose as if it were taking a breath. He jumped back and they all pressed into the entrance to the stairs. Rev half expected the corpse to rise like a zombie, instead it's chest slowly rose and fell, then its stomach swelled and burst. A white ooze poured out of it, filling the room with the choking smell of rotting flesh.

The writhing ooze looked like curdled milk in rancid rice pudding. It bubbled and frothed as it moved across the floor. It split into two masses and then rose over Fitzmina like a wave of stinking death.

"Maggots." Merantha shuddered. "Why did it have to be giant maggots?"

Rev matched her revulsion. At this point, she'd rather face a zombie. She pulled out an old belaying pin that she kept tied to her sack. It was the only piece of the Blackwind she had saved. Running forward, she swung at one of the rat-sized maggots, but the pin squished into the grub then bounced back off the squirming creature.

"This time, this time it will work," Borassos said as he bowed his head in his now familiar stance. For a moment, the dark room brightened, as if someone had lit a single candle somewhere, and then it flickered out. Borassos slumped his shoulders.

"Maybe it's time to choose a new god?" Elgoth snapped his fingers and ran them down his blade. Green flames followed the trail of his fingers as the light from the magic fire flickered through the room giving the pulsing maggots a sickly green glow. He swiped at one mass of them and the flames leapt over to the other pile, cooking several of the bugs and filling the room with rancid smoke.

Merantha placed her hand on Borassos' shoulder. "Watch." She twisted her staff and a bright blue flame appeared over the masses of rotting death. It rained down on them and several of the maggots sizzled and then popped open like chestnuts.

The next few moments were chaos. One of the grubs crawled up Elgoth's foot and attached itself to his shin. He used his cutlass to scrape it off, taking some skin with it. Merantha continued to rain fire down on the grubs while Ruanea froze them in white chunky masses. Rev skewered as many wriggling creatures as she could on her rapier until she had a long string of them like oozing puss-filled pearls on a string.

One crawled up Rev's boot, and she tried to shake it off, but it continued crawling up her leg. "Bastard, get it!" she cried pointing her bird toward the grub.

He used his beak and claws to swing down her clothes and clung to the top of her boot. Then he grabbed the grub in his beak and shook it like a dog with a toy. The worm popped, spraying white ooze around and Bastard shook it harder, flinging white ooze everywhere and flapped his wings.

Elgoth finally slashed through the last of the grubs, then pulled a face as he sniffed his blade. He walked over to his skull still lying on the ground near the body. Picking it up he held it in front of him and murmured, "Good job, Fitzmina," before stashing her back in her sack.

"I don't suppose we should leave that," Borassos said pointing to the plate mail now dripping with white puss.

"Are you going to wear it?" Ruanea asked. Rev couldn't tell if she was kidding or not as she pushed the dead maggots off her blade. We didn't know what else was lurking in this place, and plate mail was good armor.

"Not until I can get it cleaned," Borassos said, pulling the dripping mail off the body. "It smells horrible."

"Which wouldn't change much then," Ruanea whispered to Merantha. The warlock giggled.

Borassos noticed something as he was bent over gathering the armor. He stepped over to the wine racks and pulled out a bottle stuck behind them. It was an old port with a label of a unicorn in a fancy coat. He tucked that in his bag much more eagerly than the rancid plate mail.

That's when Rev noticed an impression in the floor. It was nothing more than a subtle scrape, but it was in an unmistakable arch toward them. She inspected the wall, and something clicked as a portion of the wall swung toward them.

There was a secret door.

**Commentary: In week three we saw the beginning of a few lasting jokes in the campaign. The first being, that Borassos seems to have some body odor issues. His player is a very sweet and quiet man, and he was the one that said that Borassos likely smells a bit. I'm not just being mean to Borassos, the fact he smells is cannon. The second joke is that Borassos can never seem to cut a break with his dice. I'm half-tempted to buy him a new set. His attempts at using sacred flame became one of our hottest laughter points because he failed the save on it every single time. This was a bad dice-rolling week for the party. Rev also missed a couple of stealth checks through here. Naturally if Rev is being un-sneaky it is likely due to her bird. Bastard is purely flavor and doesn't have any action in the actual game, but he's a fun element to hinge role-playing opportunities around. At one point the DM said that Bastard might be the true hero of this story. Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

Dungeons & Dragons/Saltmarsh

Episode 4

The door opened silently, and Rev could feel the tension humming in her shoulders. Bastard cooed a spooky, "Ooooooooooooo," in her ear, and she snorted. The room on the other side of the door appeared empty, and Rev motioned for the others to enter.

What used to be a large cellar room had been converted into crude living quarters. Ten beds lined the far wall, while a long table and chairs filled the center of the room. To Rev's right, a fireplace still emanated warmth. A basin sat next to it with some cabinetry, forming a simple but functional kitchen. A large ham hung from a hook by the fire. Next to the kitchen was another staircase leading up to a trap door.

This was far different from the rest of the house. Clearly this room had been lived in. But that meant that more than just bugs lingered here. Bastard flew off her shoulder and perched on the back of one of the chairs. He chewed happily on a dead maggot he had carried over from the other room.

"There's water here on the floor," Borassos said. "It looks as if someone was washing the dishes." He followed the trail of watery footprints from the basin to the corner of the room then held his hand near a seam in the stonework. "There's a draft. This must be a secret door."

Ruanea set an alarm on the stairs in the wine cellar then joined them, cautiously exploring their surroundings. At the end of each bunk was a small wooden locker.

"Do you think you can open them?" she asked turning to Rev.

Rev pulled out her picks. "I can try." She crouched down and made an attempt at the lock, but it was old, and she nearly bent her tools in the attempt. It wasn't worth it.

"We should leave these for now," Rev said, putting her tools away.

"For a pirate, you are strangely respectful of other's property," Elgoth declared.

She looked at the strange elf. "It's not the property I'm concerned about," she answered. "I am not fond of getting stabbed in the back while my head is down in a locker. We don't know where these people are or when they will return."

"We could do things the simple way," Borassos suggested. He pulled out his war hammer and smashed one of the lockers. It shattered beneath the blow.

"That works too," Ruanea commented.

Borassos went down the line breaking open each of the lockers. In them they found a small sack of gold.

"Someone just got paid," Rev said.

"I believe that would be us," Elgoth pocketed one of the sacks. "What else of worth is in this place?"

In the far corner of the room, a shadowy alcove held two wooden doors. One of them had been barred and braced. The beam holding the door bowed out, as if something had crashed into the door from the other side. "Danger" had been written hastily across the door in chalk.

Elgoth pressed his ear up to it. "I hear no signs of life," he said.

"Best leave it alone for now. What's in here?" Merantha opened the other door. Inside was a neat bed with fine sheets. In the corner sat a plushy chair, and in the center of the room, a small table held a candelabra and an unlit signaling lantern. A few books rested on a shelf above the table. Ruanea went straight for them.

"An almanac of sorts for the tides and weather. A book about the deity Iuz." She flipped that one over to look at the back cover, then looked at the last one. Her eyebrows shot up. "And a book of erotic poetry."

"You could teach your parrot a new song," Borassos suggested.

Rev snorted. "He doesn't need to learn any more, trust me."

Under the table Merantha discovered a small box. She opened it and found candles and flint, along with a piece of paper written with a code.

–_*** is it safe?_

_*–*– everything is safe._

– – – _ready to unload, come to the ship._

"This is a smuggler's signaling code," Rev said as they looked at the paper.

"Do you think Silvereye was involved with these smugglers?" Merantha asked.

"If he was, it looks like things might have gone poorly for him, or he would have met us," Ruanea concluded.

"A mutiny," Borassos suggested.

"It's possible." Rev placed the code back in the box. "We'd better be cautious."

Elgoth opened the wardrobe. Inside he found some nice clothing, including a fine silk shirt. "I could use a shirt," he mumbled to himself as he ran a hand down his bare abdomen.

Rev found it hard to look away as he took off his torn coat revealing the scars and tattoos that swirled over his skin in intricate patterns. The fine white silk drifted over them, making Elgoth almost look civil. There was a little part of her that felt a strange loss as he shrugged his coat back on.

"Rev, are you blushing?" Ruanea asked.

"What?" Now she did feel the heat rush to her face. "No!"

"You were looking at Elgoth." Now she smiled knowingly.

"It's nothing. This is a small room, and there are a lot of us in here." She needed some fresh air.

"Perhaps I should give this to you." Ruanea handed her the book of erotic poetry. Rev could feel the burning in her cheeks as she stashed it in her bag.

"What just happened?" Elgoth said.

"I honestly have no idea, because I swear you are the ugliest elf I have ever seen," Merantha said.

"I'm handsome." Borassos puffed up his chest as he moved closer to Merantha. He smoothed his moustache.

"Yes, but you smell," Ruanea quipped as she left the room with Rev. Merantha just giggled.

Borassos shouted, "It's the plate mail!"

Merantha flicked her hand, and a glittering magic swept through Borassos' pack. The air cleared… almost. "There, now you won't be quite so awful."

Together they moved to the secret door in the far corner of the room as Rev played a tune on her tin pipe. Merantha, Borassos, and Ruanea seemed cheered by the song. Borassos pushed the door, and it opened silently. The door opened to a narrow tunnel and stair that had been carved out of the natural rock of the cliffs. The floor sloped downward, and every few feet, stairs led down to ease the descent.

"This definitely looks like a smuggler's cove," Elgoth noted.

"Aye Aye Captain!" Bastard agreed as he flew onto Rev's shoulder.

Merantha cast a spell and suddenly Elgoth's shield glowed with light. Rev didn't need the aid with her natural ability to see in the dark, but this way the humans wouldn't trip down the stairs. "Go silently, my friends," she said. Even Bastard seemed to feel the tension. He stayed unusually quiet as they made their way into the dark tunnel.

The carved tunnel opened up to natural caves with caverns leading to both their right and their left. The air felt dank and wet in the caverns as drips fell on them from the stalactites reaching down from the cave ceiling.

"Now which way should we go?" Merantha asked. The floor sloped down to their left, and Elgoth lit his blade with his green flame to test the air. A breeze came from that direction. Whatever was down that way, it led to a passage out of the caverns.

But Rev remembered the meticulous way the party had searched the upper rooms. They were not going to leave this cavern unexplored, so one direction was as good as another. "I propose we toss a coin," she suggested.

"Last time you tossed a coin, a harpy attacked you," Ruanea mentioned.

"I'll do it," Elgoth muttered and flipped a piece of copper. "It looks like we go to the right."

"Into the dark and dank, wonderful." Borassos held up his shield.

Merantha used her magic to leave a glittering mark on the wall of the cave. "This way, we'll know where we have been."

"That's very clever," Ruanea noted, touching the glittering mark. As Elgoth moved into the cavern to the right, she looked up. A shimmering substance trickled down from the ceiling. It fell on Elgoth's shoulder. He immediately shouted in pain as the green liquid burned through his leather coat and the new silk shirt beneath.

Borassos grabbed his water skein and tried to wash off the green slime, but the water did nothing, so Merantha pulled her dagger.

She used the blade to scrape the slime from Elgoth's shoulder, taking care not to cut him. The slime came off, and she flicked it onto the ground where it pooled in a quivering green puddle. The blade of her dagger hissed as the lingering acid burned holes through the blade.

"Well that is useless," she tossed it down, then gathered a little ball of light to heal Elgoth's shoulder. A second ball of light remained floating near her shoulder. "There," she nodded, satisfied with her work.

"Why did we come this way?" Elgoth muttered as he pointed to a second slime clinging to the ceiling.

They avoided the green pools, stepping carefully through the wide tunnel until they came to a decent sized cavern. Stalagmites reached up toward the sharp teeth of rock dripping from the ceiling. In one or two places, they fused together forming pillars of stone. Puddles of water formed on the floor, but other than that, the room seemed like nothing more than an empty cave, except for the two very surprised men holding a pole with a large bundle of sail canvass hastily strapped together to carry their burden.

Merantha rushed forward and threw a companionable arm around one of the shocked sailors. Her voice turned sweet and slightly seductive as the air around her smelled like fresh baked bread and sunshine. The sailor immediately fell under her spell, though he looked at the rest of the party in fear. Elgoth drew his blade and pointed it at the man at the back of the pole. His knees knocked together as swallowed nervously.

"Hello friend," Merantha said, her voice like a siren. "What are you both doing here?"

"Smuggling. Now we don't want no trouble," the sailor said. Rev wasn't entirely sure he was under the influence of Merantha's charm so much as her beauty and the threat of Elgoth's blade. "We don't get paid enough for that." The one in the back hastily shook his head. "We'll tell you anything you want, just spare our lives."

"How many of there are you?" Merantha asked smiling at the sailor.

"Oh, about seven or eight of us, about. Is that right, Joe?"

"I dunno, don't ask me," Joe said with his knees still knocking together.

"Have you seen a man with one white eye?" Rev asked, praying her friend was still alive.

"He's dead," Bastard cooed, then chewed on his own foot. Rev flicked him hard on the wing. He squawked in protest and threatened to bite her.

"Oh aye, he's upstairs. He's quite annoying, isn't he, John?" the man in the back said. "Can we go on about our business now?"

"Leave the loot," Elgoth said motioning to the pack. Rev drew her own rapier to back him up. Joe immediately dropped his end and held his hands up.

John still clung to the pole. "You said you would leave us be!" he protested.

"We said we would spare your lives, not your goods. Now go, if you value breathing," Rev announced.

Joe whispered, "The lockers," in a not-so-subtle way. A knowing look passed over John's face and he dropped the pole. Both the sailors ran out of the cavern without looking back.

"They're going to be disappointed when they get up there," Borassos said, shifting his hammer to his other shoulder. They had reduced the lockers to empty splinters.

"I don't think we have much to fear from them," Ruanea concluded as she undid the bindings around the sail. Inside the bundle was a bolt of fine silk cloth, three bottles of wine, and a fine silver tea set. They gathered the loot but left the bolt of silk in the shadows. It was too difficult to carry.

Finding their way out of the open expanse of the cavern, they saw Merantha's glowing mark to the left. They were back where they started. As they continued down the passage where the air was a bit fresher, a light flickered up ahead, casting jagged shadows through the cavern passage. The shadows grew weaker as they discovered a tunnel lit with torches.

Elgoth hurried ahead. "There's a room here," he said. "A staging area for the stolen goods." The rest of the party pushed forward. They entered a brightly lit room, that was indeed a staging area for goods. Another five bolts of silk leaned up against one wall, while eight small casks lined the other. "And it's occupied," he added a minute too late.

Two smugglers, a man missing most of his teeth and a woman with corded ropes of hair stood up from arranging the casks as a large hobgoblin turned toward them. A tall, bald man wearing a yellow tunic and a large gold loop in one ear glared at them.

For the span of one breath, everyone stared at one another.

The tall man suddenly shouted. "Drop it, you fools, and grab your swords! They're here!"

Borassos pulled out his war hammer and took a swing at the hobgoblin, but the brute ducked out of the way.

"Sanbalet will not stand for this intrusion!" The bald man raised his hands in the air. Six red missiles shot out of his hands, and after arching through the stalactites in the ceiling, they shot straight for Borassos' heart.

They pierced Borassos' body, and his face twisted in pain as he crumpled to the floor.

"NO!" Merantha shouted pushing forward. The air crackled around her as she gathered her magic into a powerful blast. She struck back at the spell caster, knocking him to the side. Then she gathered the small ball of healing light still lingering near her shoulder and pressed it into Borassos' chest. He took a gasping breath.

Ruanea glared as her hands glowed with bright purple light. It formed into her own missiles and she sent them back at the bald man, knocking him into the wall. "How does it feel when I do it?" she shouted.

Just then Rev heard the twang of a bowstring, and a piercing pain burned like fire through her shoulder. Bastard flew away as she staggered back to the cave wall. Bastard clung to a rock formation above her squawking a blaring alarm. Anger surged through Rev as she looked at the arrow protruding out of her right shoulder just beneath her collar bone. She wrenched the arrow from her own flesh. Her blood dripped over her hands she murmured, "With my blood I curse you. Death will stalk you like a shadow." Her gaze locked with the woman who had shot the bow. The other woman's sneer faded as Rev smiled back at her the way a wolf looks at her prey.

A shadow formed in the cave, settling on the hobgoblin and the two smugglers. They seemed uncertain as they shifted uneasily. The hobgoblin attacked Elgoth, swinging his heavy sword, but he missed the tattooed elf completely. He looked baffled as he fell back on his heel. The other bandit with the missing teeth ran toward her.

"Well aren't you pretty," he sneered. Sensing weakness, he raised his sword. Rev leaned back against the wall and didn't bother to move. She could feel her hot blood oozing out from between her fingers, but the man's sword swished harmlessly through the air to her side, hitting the stalagmite next to her with a hallow ring of metal on stone. A voice within the shadow around him let out a low and seductive laugh that sounded distinctly like Rev.

Borassos staggered to his feet and his hands glowed as he pressed them to his chest.

"Sanbalet sees that you are indeed powerful," the bald man said, obviously speaking about himself. "But you will never see such power as this!" He blasted a jet of heat out of his hands.

Ruanea laughed. "Are you speaking in the third person?" she said as the blast singed her.

"Sanbalet should watch out for this," Merantha mocked his tone as she let loose another powerful blast of energy. It propelled Sanbalet into the wall behind him. He hit with a hard crack of bones breaking against the stone.

"Sanbalet never found the stone, damn it!" he gasped, but it was his last breath.

"My love?" The woman bandit with the bow turned and ran to the crumpled heap of a body at the back of the cave. "My love! No!" She crouched beside the bald man's body, then with a howl of rage knocked an arrow and let it loose at Merantha. It hit her in the arm.

Ruanea turned to the hobgoblin and shot more purple missiles at the hulking smuggler. He lifted his sword above his head to strike Elgoth, but immediately crumbled to the floor, his sword falling behind him.

The bandit in front of Rev had twisted to see the commotion behind him. When he turned around, Rev had staggered to her feet. Swaying, she took a step toward the bandit as Bastard flew to her shoulder.

"You call yourself a pirate?" she said with a sneer. The bandit turned to her and raised his sword. "Look at yourself. I've seen more deadly piles of rat droppings. You think you're going to kill me? I have sent stronger men than you to the brink when I was nothing but a child." He blinked at her in shock and Rev laughed before tipping her hat down over one eye. "I've also met orcs with far more intelligence. You might as well drop that sword now. Clearly it's compensating for what is lacking in your pants. I don't believe for a moment that you actually know how to use either."

"He could find an oyster, but not the pearl!" Bastard sang, flapping his wings.

Rev laughed as the bandit's eyes grew glassy with tears. "You will not touch me," Rev said standing tall as she let the blood spill from her shoulder. "And you will die without ever proving yourself as a man. You are not even worth drawing my blade." She crossed her arms and leaned back against a stalagmite.

"Hahahahahahahahaha!" Bastard laughed maniacally as he flapped his wings. The bandit roared in rage but swung his sword uselessly through the air. The force of his swing sent him off balance and he stumbled.

Ruanea ran up next to Rev and stabbed the man in the spleen with her dagger. He gasped in shock as Rev drew her rapier and moved in close. "You're so pathetic, you never even touched me," Rev whispered in his ear careful not to touch him as she dragged the sharp edge of her rapier across his neck, severing his artery. Blood sprayed everywhere and Bastard flapped his wings, bathing in it. He fell lifeless to the floor.

Ruanea clasped Rev's blood-soaked hand, pulling her forward, and together they turned toward the others.

Borassos smashed at the woman bandit with his hammer. Then Merantha moved forward, stepping on Sanbalet's body as she blasted the smuggler with another blast of power. The woman swung her coiled ropes of hair out of her eyes as she drew another arrow and fired at Merantha. "You killed my love!" The arrow stuck in Merantha's leg.

"Then you should join him," Elgoth declared as he swung his cutlass in a brutal blow. it severed the bandit's bow in half and slashed through her neck and shoulder.

Just then a screeching wail filled the cavern.

"My alarm!" Ruanea shouted. The sailors they had let go must have escaped up the stairs. They all turned toward the entrance.

A hobgoblin ran up sword drawn, but then stared at them all in shock as if he didn't expect to see them there. Elgoth didn't hesitate. He locked gazes with the hobgoblin and gave him a wicked grin. Pushing himself up in a graceful turn, and with elven speed, he roared as he charged the hobgoblin. Holding his cutlass in two hands, he brought the blade down and under the smuggler's shield, then twisted and brought the blade up, slicing the bandit's torso from hips to neck. The body slid off the man's blade, and the caves fell silent.

Their party stood in the carnage for a moment, holding their wounds.

"I think you ruined your shirt," Rev said to Elgoth as she pressed a hand to her bleeding shoulder. He chuckled uneasily.

"I think you have ruined yours as well." He looked around at the dead bodies and the cavern full of goods. "Perhaps it is a good thing we have so much silk."

The cave system led down to a sea cave with a small jolly boat, used for running between ships or unloading goods. They could use it to take the brandy casks and silks to Saltmarsh. If they ever found Silvereye, he could point them to a merchant who wouldn't question where the goods came from.

Rev sat on a rock and bound her wounds while they packed the rest of the goods into the boat.

According to the smugglers, Silvereye was somewhere upstairs. Rev just hoped he was still alive.

**Author's Note: Rev's crush on Elgoth is one of my favorite running things in the game. Elgoth's player is trying so hard to play him as dark and creepy and cannot fathom what Rev sees in him. At this point I didn't know either, other than the guys in our party clearly don't understand the allure of a bad boy. As the weeks went on, I figured out that Rev is terrified of feeling love for someone because she feels like it was her parent's powerful love that drove them both to ruin. However, Rev has a very passionate nature, and so can't help feeling things very deeply. I think the reason she has latched on to Elgoth as the object of her affection is because there is no way he will ever love her in return. It's very sad really. I'm still shipping them hard, but I don't control Elgoth, so I don't know if this affection is ever fated to become something more than a longing. Also, I do really like using vicious mockery, and feel like swashbucklers should have access to that skill automatically. I have found that Rev's single point in Bard has come in handy from time to time though.**


	5. Chapter 5

Dungeons & Dragons/Saltmarsh

Episode 5

Rev pushed herself to her feet in spite of her bloody shoulder. Her patch job would have to hold until she could seek some real healing. The others were finishing loading the last of the silks and casks of brandy into the boat.

Ruanea set another alarm on their booty. "Don't worry, not even the smallest of thieves could get through without my knowing it," she said.

The tide was slowly rising. It would be more difficult to enter through the sea cave. For now, they were safe, but they had left one room unexplored. The one marked _Danger_ in hastily scrawled chalk.

The party made their way back up through the caverns until they came face to face with the door.

Rev felt her trepidation creeping along her skin like spiders. Bastard hunkered down and nervously cooed in her ear. Out of a distant memory from her childhood, she remembered her father's voice rising over the storm as the Blackwind chased down unwitting prey. She began singing the tune out of habit, not really paying attention to what she was saying. Half of it was in Elvish, but she translated the chorus.

_Keep the wind at your back, the deck at your feet,_

_When the depths are calling below._

_Hold tight to your courage, if danger you meet,_

_Hold fast, take heart, heave-ho._

Ruanea gave her a strange look, but then smiled. Merantha too seemed less shaken as Borassos pressed his palms together in prayer, and Elgoth pushed the bar off the door. The old hinges creaked and popped with breaking rust as they entered the small room.

The air was stale and choked with dust. It was hard to make out much of anything. Rev heard the rattling clatter of bones before she saw the skeletons rising in the corners of the room. The vacant eye sockets of their long dead skulls stared blankly ahead– then all the of the skeletons turned their heads toward them at once.

Ruanea immediately launched her purple missiles, and chaos reigned. There were at least six skeletons, and five in their party along with one screaming parrot in a very small room. Rev struck out with her blade, striking the skeleton nearest her on his rusting breast plate. It was strange, her blow felt as if it should have had more force behind it. A cascade of fine dust fell from the skeleton as his bare toothed grin remained fixed.

Merantha let out one of her powerful blasts, knocking one of the skeletons into the wall. The crash and clatter of bones filled the room.

Suddenly the skeletons rushed at them. Rev heard Merantha cry out in pain as the skeleton in front of her stabbed her in the leg with a dagger. Rev felt the pain shooting like fire through her leg, but she clenched her teeth and ignored it. Elgoth managed to use his elven grace to dance through the swinging blows of the animated dead, while Ruanea blasted them with more missiles.

Borassos hit one in the head with his hammer and again, the strange dust shook off the skeleton in front of him. "There's something strange about this dust," he shouted.

"Now is not the time to figure out what it is," Merantha said as she knocked the same skeleton with her staff. "Just keep swinging."

Rev punched one in the face with her hilt, and the skeleton crumpled.

"Fitzmina," Elgoth said as he slashed at the skeleton sending it crumpling into a heap of dried bones. The skull rattled lifeless in an old rusted helmet as he rolled across the floor. "I found you some friends."

Rev stabbed another skeleton through the hole of his eye and pulled the skull off the neck so it slid her blade and rested against the guard. The rest of his bones crumpled to the floor. Bastard flew down off her shoulder and climbed into the ribcage, then started taking a dust bath in the powdery remains.

Ruanea hummed Rev's tune as her hands glowed blue. "Hold tight to your courage, if danger you meet," she sang, then let out an epic blast of ice that looked like blue fire as it twisted through the air and hit the last of the skeletons still standing. It blasted him into the wall and froze the bones to the rough walls in a sheet of ice. "Hold fast, take heart, heave ho," she finished, looking around the now still room.

Rev fell against the wall, staunching the bleeding in her leg. Merantha hurried over and touched her on the shoulder, murmuring words of healing to both her and Elgoth.

"Well, that was delightful," Rev winced as the wound in her thigh and the one in her shoulder stitched themselves back together. "Make no bones about it."

Elgoth turned to her and gave her a patronizing look. "Do not make bone jokes," he warned.

"Does Fitzmina take offense?" Rev asked.

"No," he said as his wounds healed as well. "After twenty years, she has told me every bone joke that exists, over and over again."

Rev chuckled as Ruanea and Borassos examined the dust on the floor. That's when she noticed Merantha was bleeding too, and yet she had chosen to heal them instead of herself. Rev felt a new kinship with the warlock and was glad to have her in their rag-tag party.

Rev put a hand to the other woman's arm and started singing again in Elvish. Whatever magic her father had possessed, his songs seemed to still carry that magic for her. She sang the tune he had taught to her when she had fallen off the fo'c'sle and broken her arm when she was only seven. Sure enough, as she sang, Merantha's wounds healed before her eyes. This was one song she needed to remember always.

"Thank you," Merantha said. They clasped hands and Merantha helped pull her up.

"This is Alchemist powder. Someone coated the skeletons in them." Ruanea announced.

"That must have been what made them so strong against our attacks," Borassos said.

Elgoth stooped and immediately began rubbing dust all over his torn and bloodstained coat. Bastard squawked and laughed as they both covered themselves in dust.

"Um…" Borassos pointed to the corner of the room. A blue light shone through a crack, outlining a secret door. It grew brighter as the door slowly opened.

A bony hand reached around the stone edge of the secret door. Tattered robes fluttered by the wrist like solidified wisps of smoke. As the door opened wider, a stooped skeleton emerged wearing a pointed hat coated in years of dust and cobwebs. Green smoke curled around the skeleton's chin forming a long ephemeral beard, a magical echo of what must have been when the alchemist was alive. Red fire glowed in the sockets of the skeleton's skull, as his dry and crackling voice hissed. "Secrets found and lost, then found again, you cannot comprehend."

With a screech, he threw two glowing green globs at them. The balls fell in a limp arc as the alchemist's shoulder joints creaked and popped. Clearly he hadn't thrown anything in a very long time. The balls landed harmless on the floor, and the skeleton looked down at them, then up at their party, then back to the pools of acid.

Ruanea shouted as she let loose another icy blast. The green tendrils of smoke turn to pale green icicles on the skeleton's chin and chest.

Rev remembered the effect her words had on the bandit and tried to channel her spite, but when she opened her mouth to insult the old alchemist, Bastard flew up to her shoulder and squawked, blocking out her words. Rev continued. "Look at you… _squawk!_ Do you think… _squawk!_ Why should we… _squawk!_ Damn it Bastard! Oh forget it!" She lifted her rapier instead.

Merantha let out another of her blasts that knocked the alchemist back through the secret door. The sound of broken glass rained through the air, punctuated by the clattering smash of old wood breaking.

The alchemist let out a roar, then slowly pushed forward to Merantha and slapped her across the face.

Elgoth used his distraction to run around behind him and slash him across the ribs with his cutlass, and Rev joined him. Their blades clanged together in his hollow torso. As they pulled their blades, the edges rang as if on a whetting stone. The alchemist crumbled before them in a cloud of gray dust.

Elgoth shrugged. "He left his robes." Immediately he stooped to rummage through them. "Here's a strange sack," he commented holding it up.

The hair on Rev's arms stood on end. She had heard rumors of mysterious sacks, and this might be one of those sorts. "I'll roll you for it."

"I want in," Ruanea joined in.

Elgoth looked disappointed in them, and reluctant to let go of the sack. But to his credit, he rolled with them, and Rev came away the winner. "Yes!" she took the sack and peered into it. Its insides seemed very dark. Bastard walked down her arm and stuck his head inside. Then he fell all the way in. He squawked, and his call sounded far away, and the whole time, it felt like nothing of substance was in the sack at all, let alone a fat and surly parrot. The neck of the sack wiggled, and Bastard burst back out of the sack, flying hard. Rev reached into the leathery pouch, and her entire arm disappeared into the bag up to her shoulder. "I'll find good use for this."

"Maybe lose your bird in it next time," Ruanea suggested. Bastard landed on her shoulder and shook out his feathers.

Elgoth returned to the robes. He pulled out a smooth river stone with runes carved into the sides. Merantha reached out for it, and Elgoth handed it to her. She peered at it. "It's cool to the touch. I wonder what it is? It feels lucky to me. Do you think this is the stone that Sanbalet spoke of?"

"If it is," Borassos said. "It was right beside his bedroom this whole time."

"But what would he want with it?" Elgoth asked.

Rev peered inside the room beyond the secret door. Aside from the smashed flasks and shelves where the alchemist had been hit by Merantha's blast, it seemed like some sort of laboratory. A golden skull sat next to a gilded rose, and other odds and ends made of gold. Ruanea picked up a book next to them and ran her hand over the cover smearing the dust away.

"Ye secret of Ye Philosopher's Stone," she read, squinting at the ornate lettering.

"The Philosopher's Stone," Borassos exclaimed. "Doesn't that turn things into gold?" He looked at Merantha as she pulled the stone back out of her pocket.

Elgoth picked up the golden skull. "But this is not a real skull," he said. "Fitzmina knows these things. You can see the tool marks. This has been crafted from gold. It has not been transformed from bone."

Rev lifted and inspected the petals of the rose. She could see the imprint of a sculptor's tools, even though the work was very fine. "This as well."

"This book is full of incoherent nonsense," Ruanea proclaimed, reading through it. "Though it would take me some study to be sure. Some of it sounds plausible, but it would never work."

"Make something sound believable and you have the start of a good scam," Rev declared. "I know a con when I see one. I've run enough of my own. This looks like a set up to pawn off a fake stone as a Philosopher's Stone to fetch a handsome price."

"The stone is definitely magic," Ruanea declared.

Merantha inspected the runes. "Yes, but it is likely for something simple and not so valuable as a Midas enchantment. And why would you sell a stone that can make gold for you? If you needed gold, wouldn't you just make some with the stone?"

Rev laughed. "I wonder if this lucky rock is what Silvey was after." She bent down and inspected the desk. It looked exactly like the one upstairs, so she popped the drawer with the pommel of her blade. A secret compartment opened, and she drew out an old spell book. "Now this book might actually be useful." She handed it to Ruanea. The wizard's eyes lit up as she took it and flipped through the pages.

Suddenly she lifted her head. "My alarm!"

Together they rushed down to the sea cave, only to find a trio of crabs crawling on their ship as the tide came in.

Borassos and Merantha gave Ruanea a sidelong glance, brimming with annoyance, but the elf only shrugged. "It worked, didn't it?"

"Let's find Silvey and get out of here," Rev said. "Before we lose our loot."

They made their way quickly up through the house and climbed the stairs in the main entryway.

"Now may I shout for your friend?" Elgoth asked Rev.

After clearing the house of smugglers and undead skeletons, Rev felt confident that the house was secure. She made a 'go ahead' motion with her hand.

"Silvereye!" Elgoth shouted.

"He's dead!" Bastard called.

Rev kept her hand on her hilt just in case, but nothing seemed to stir in the upper rooms of the house.

They heard a low groan, and then a thump in the room nearest them. Rev rushed over and tried the handle, but the door was locked. She thumped her wounded shoulder into the door, her heart racing, then winced as her newly healing wound stung.

"The key is here," Ruanea said, pointing to a key on a loop right outside the door. Rev grabbed it, feeling foolish, and opened the door.

Silvey lay bound and gagged on the floor in nothing but his skivvies. Rev felt tears sting her eyes as she rushed over to him and pulled off the gag.

"Hallie my lass!" His voice sounded hoarse, but strong. Merantha used her dagger to cut his hands free as Ruanea worked on his legs. As soon as his arm came free, he hugged Rev tight. "I knew you would find me. How did you make it past those smugglers?"

"They're dead," Rev declared. Bastard happily whistled.

He gave her a fatherly smile. "That's my girl." He reached out and patted her cheek. Rev helped him to his feet. Borassos found his clothes in a chest in the other room as Elgoth wandered off in search of more loot.

"What were you doing here?" Rev asked as she helped the old man pull the shirt over his stiff shoulders.

"Ah, well you see," he said, peering around with his milky eye. "This house belongs to you! I told you to meet me here so I could show it to you, when those filthy smugglers got the jump on me. It took two of them to take me down."

"What do you mean the house belongs to me?" Rev asked.

"This is the old Halborn estate." Silvereye proclaimed. "Your grandfather made a good living smuggling out of the caves below. He passed it on to your mother, but she only ever used it as a hideout from time to time. She preferred the sea and the Blackwind was her true home. I'm afraid it has been a bit neglected."

"Halborn?" Ruanea noted. "Is that where the name Hallie comes from?"

"Aye, it's what the crew used to call her." Silvereye got a soft look in his good eye. "Young Miss Halborn. We shortened it to Hallie."

Just then Elgoth came down from the attic carrying a creepy doll with a wide grimacing smile and the haunting look of death in its glassy eyes. "Your parents had some skeletons in their closet," he proclaimed with an expectant smile.

Everyone turned and stared at him.

He tucked his head down and scolded his sack. "I told you no one would think it was funny, Fitzmina!"

"Just tell me you are going to burn that thing," Merantha said, pointing at the doll.

"Why? She is lovely," Elgoth said, straightening the doll's head.

"What are the odds it kills us in our sleep?" Rev whispered to Ruanea.

"I don't intend to sleep." Ruanea gave Rev a conspiratorial grin as they left the room and headed down the stairs. Rev laughed under her breath.

Silvey whistled low as they passed the carnage in the caves, then nodded approvingly. He wandered over to Sanbalet and patted the dead man's pockets.

"Honestly, Silvey, you taught me better than that," Rev said. "You won't find the Philosopher's Stone," she continued.

Merantha produced the etched stone and showed it to the old sea-dog. "It was a fake this whole time. The alchemist who used to live here was running a scam."

"Really?" he said as he pushed himself slowly up and took the stone from Merantha, inspecting it with his good eye. "I had always heard rumors. I guess trickery runs deep in your blood, my girl." Then he tucked the stone in his pocket.

Merantha made a noise like she was scolding a naughty hound and held her hand out. Silvey reluctantly returned the rock to her.

"Don't worry, my friend. There was plenty of treasure to be had here," Rev said. "I'll give you a cask of the brandy when we get back to port."

That cheered the old sailor, until they reached the boat and found it crawling with crabs.

"Not crabs," Borassos muttered. "Pinchy little bastards."

"Oooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh," Bastard sang in response to hearing his name. "Crusty Kate is the friendly sort. But don't drop anchor in her port. Her waters be warm and smooth as GLAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSS!"

"Bastard!" Rev put her face in her palm.

"But crabs do linger in the grass!"

Silvey laughed as he scratched himself and then made to launch the boat.

As they rowed into the harbor, Silvey loudly proclaimed the heroic glory of their adventure announcing to everyone that the infamous smuggler Sanbalet had finally been exterminated. If the town wasn't already in high spirits, this news certainly lifted them higher. It seemed Sanbalet had been stealing from all of the merchants as well as cutting into the profits of the other smugglers and traders in town. Everyone was glad to be rid of him.

The Salty Fish bustled with cheers and free flowing booze as Silvereye joyfully told their tale to any who would hear it. Of course, the number of smugglers that he personally fought before succumbing, kept increasing with each telling. Rev loved everything about the celebration as Bastard sat on top of an old ship's wheel and sang his shanty at the top of his lungs. Several of the fishermen joined him, and soon they were composing new verses.

Merantha stayed close to their loot, looking a bit paranoid, but Rev had noticed that the innkeeper was keeping a lookout for their welfare. It seemed Farrin's, "Y'uns us now," blessing still bore weight. Ruanea retreated to a corner with a small glass of brandy to study her new book. Borassos kept raising his mug of ale for cheers, but no one seemed to notice what he was trying to do. They failed to tap his glass, so he would sheepishly lower his mug before drinking from it.

Fitzmina swam in a pool of brandy as Elgoth poured another drink over her head. People seemed drawn to him, but after five minutes of speaking with him, they would slowly back away.

All in all, it was good fun, and Rev was glad for it. She sat down next to Elgoth, unafraid to linger more than five minutes. He pulled a pipe out of his coat.

"Where did you find that?" she asked.

"In the house. It seemed special." He handed it over to her. A fine piece, delicate carvings traced over the bowl.

"Mind if I try it?" Rev asked. She wasn't usually one for smoking, but the occasion seemed to warrant it.

Elgoth snapped his fingers and a little green flame appeared above his fingertips. He used it to light the pipe.

Rev inhaled and felt filled with warmth and pride as memories flooded her mind. As she exhaled, the smoke curled out in front of her. It twisted into shapes, forming people, shipmates she recognized from long ago, and herself at various ages engaged in elegant swordplay… a proud ship cutting over the waves. Slowly the figures in the smoke played out a pantomime of heroic deeds from her past. When it reached the moment where Silvey threw her over the rail of the Blackwind and jumped into the storming waters after her, she hastily swiped away the smoke with her hand. Her eyes stung. It was only the smoke, surely.

"He saved you?" Elgoth asked.

"I didn't want to leave my mother, but she wouldn't leave the ship. She was the captain. It was sinking fast. Silvereye isn't the strongest swimmer. I ended up dragging him to shore." Rev swallowed the lump in her throat. "He saved my life that night, and I saved his."

Elgoth didn't say a word.

Rev huffed. "It's your pipe. You should try it."

Elgoth puffed on the pipe, but when he blew out the smoke, only one scene played out before them, him charging the hobgoblin after they had killed Sanbalet. Then the smoke drifted away.

"I don't understand," Rev said. Elgoth wasn't terribly old for an elf, but he had lived longer than a human ever could. Why didn't he have a past?

The firelight flickered over his scars. "I'm no hero," he said. He tucked the pipe away, scooped up Fitzmina, and retreated into the inn.

Rev watched him go. As the celebration continued around her, she no longer wanted to be a part of it.

The next morning as they were nursing their hangovers, a wealthy man approached who didn't mind displaying it through the fine silk of his clothing. He entered the pub with the town council following behind. He wore a neat white beard that he had cut and shaved into a curling pattern on his cheeks. "Ahem, good morning to you all!" he called with a foppish affectation. "If you would allow me to introduce myself, I am, of course, Gellen Primewater," he proclaimed loudly, and then quickly softened his voice to a near whisper. "The bandit Sanbalet recently robbed a shipment of mine of fine silks and brandy. I understand that you have recovered some of the goods, and law of the sea, law of the sea, what someone recovers honestly, they are right to keep, ooonly…"

"What is it you want?" Merantha asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

He dropped his voice even lower, so they all had to huddle close. "Well the thing of it is, I wouldn't want it getting about Saltmarsh that I cannot protect my own wares from thieves and pirates. No one would ever do business with me again. If you would be so kind as to dispose of your goods discretely without mentioning where they came from, I would be most obliged."

"How obliged?" Ruanea asked.

"Will gold assure your discretion?" he asked.

"How much?" Merantha asked.

He raised his voice. "The council is offering two hundred gold for your assistance," he said than whispered. "And silence."

"My aunt Mildred is the finest weaver of silks, and you should taste my cousin's brandy," Rev said. Gellen looked relieved.

"Ahem."

They all turned to see a stocky woman with short silver hair and an aura of toughness that only comes from savvy and survival. She bore the unbending aura of someone who had been carved out of a weathered crag of rock sticking out of a violent sea. Rev recognized her right away. Eda Oland, for all of the blustering of the council, was the true power of Saltmarsh. And while her methods could be as subtle as the smugglers working through her docks, nothing happened in Saltmarsh without her influence.

"I remember you," she said to Rev. Thankfully she didn't recount the incident where they first met. Rev was only thirteen and desperate at the time. She didn't blink as she looked the older woman in the eye. "It seems you have made something of yourself." Her expression didn't change, but the wrinkles deepened in the corners of her eyes. "I approve."

"I haven't achieved my ends yet," Rev stated.

Eda smiled at her. "Then I suppose I should keep my eye on you." She turned to the rest of them. "The council gives you our thanks for eliminating the troublesome smuggling ring that had been causing such strife in our town. I'm sure, if we have need, the council can count on your aid again?"

Rev grinned at them. "Only for the right price."

**Author's Note: It was a lot of fun feeling like we succeeded in this first leg of our adventure in Saltmarsh. As a player I am very interested in intrigue, and I enjoyed beginning the politics of meeting and dealing with the council in town. One of my favorite parts of the story is Bastards' sea shanty. It has three official verses so far, and I am pretty proud of it in a silly, naughty way. Also, if Elgoth doesn't want Rev's admiration, he needs to stop being so appealingly tragic all the time.**


	6. Chapter 6

Dungeons & Dragons/Saltmarsh

Episode 6

After the excitement of their adventures, Rev enjoyed her new wealth and notoriety. The fishermen and sailors around town all waved to her, often singing out, "He could find an oyster but not the pearl!" as she passed. Bastard seemed to find this endlessly amusing, and it often set him into singing the line in endless repetition for the day.

At one point she wandered up to the decrepit property that was her birthright and took a look at the old house. The last weasel watched her suspiciously from under the rose bush, but Bastard screeched "Kill! Kill! Kill!" at it, and it retreated deep into its burrow. Rev gathered the rose petals from the feral bush and stashed them in a small satchel in her magical sack. She liked the smell of roses and remembered how her father would crush petals as he sang her to sleep at night.

Back in town, their party had taken over most of the Salty Fish. The proprietor of the inn, Heartless Copper, had been very welcoming after hearing Ferrin's endorsement. She was a stunning woman with shining red hair and ample… hospitality. But she was as fierce and ruthless as she was fair, and so had been given her name by the smugglers that liked to frequent her inn. In the time that they had been staying in the inn, the desires of many a smuggler and sailor, crashed hopelessly against the rocks of her disinterest. It amused Rev to watch them try, though. The inn only had six rooms, and since there were five in their number, the place felt like home to their unlikely group. Silvereye was glad to meet them in the pub and was there on the morning that a messenger came from the town council.

"The town council wishes to inform you that your presence is requested at the town meeting in three weeks," the young messenger said. "Especially the heir to the Halborn estate, as its ownership is in dispute."

Rev lowered her fork. Breakfast could wait. "Dispute?" She looked at her old companion.

Silvereye scratched his head. "Oh, aye, I should have mentioned that." He held his hands out as Bastard marched across the table with his eyes blazing and his feathers ruffled. "It seems there was a business partnership of some sort or dealings, and other parties seem to claim a stake in the property."

"So, I don't own the house?" Rev crossed her arms and scowled.

"A third at least," Silvereye insisted. "At least a third is yours by rights."

"Keep the bottom third," Ruanea mumbled over the top of her book.

"The matter will be addressed at the next meeting," the messenger stated, then scampered away without begging for change.

"Whelp!" Silvereye pushed himself up from the table. "Seein' as how I have run through the last of me gold. 'Tis time for me to set off. I've been hired on to the Proud Tortoise. Will be out to sea for a few."

"You're leaving?" Ruanea looked up from her spellbook.

"Oh aye," Silvereye patted his belly. "But has been nice to know all of you. And to see you, Hallie."

Rev nodded at him. She knew the way of tides and wasn't surprised by his news. She was not one for goodbyes. It might have been superstition on her part, but she never liked to make a parting feel final. "I will see you again, old man."

He tipped his hat to her.

"Silvereye, if you don't mind," Merantha stood and went over to him. "Could you see this gold safely to the hands of your ship's captain. I hope to see it safely reach my family." She handed a heavy sack and a folded letter over to him. His eyes bulged slightly, but he nodded solemnly to her.

"I'll see it done, miss."

They escorted him out of the inn to the walkways outside. They could see the ships loading in the docks.

Elgoth placed a hand on the old sailor's shoulder. "Goodbye, Silvereye," he said in his scratchy voice. "Don't get eaten by a shark."

Silvereye laughed as he headed down to the docks. They watched him board a sturdy ship and approach the captain. He spoke with the man as he handed over Merantha's payment and a letter she had included with it.

Satisfied he was safe and on his way to his own adventures, the others returned to the inn. Rev overheard Merantha teasing Elgoth that they should find him a pirate name. Ruanea suggested "Blackeye," and Elgoth protested loudly that it made him sound wounded. Borassos said he wouldn't mind a pirate name as they disappeared into the pub.

Part of her wanted to return with them, but Rev needed a moment alone. She was going to miss Silvereye, and now wasn't sure how she would continue her quest to become something great and fearsome without his guidance.

She drifted down the dock without direction or purpose, lost in her own thoughts. She let Bastard fly off to curse at gulls as she wandered through the docks. The sun was high when she heard a seductive voice in the waning shadows.

"My, my, you've grown up well."

Rev turned to the narrow alley between two of the shops near the bridge. A Tiefling woman with bright red skin stepped out of the shadows. Her curled horns twisted back like a ram's over her long black hair. She pulled a chunk that had been plaited over her shoulder, skimming her fingers along her neck as she did so. With casual grace, she leaned up against the corner, the breeze ruffling her loose white shirt beneath a black leather coat. "I remember you from when you were a scrawny little thing picking the pockets of every fool on the docks. It seems you've done quite well for yourself recently."

"Xendros," Rev whispered. The Tiefling had always frightened her when she was younger, but the smuggler was as much a part of the Saltmarsh docks as the gulls. She was clever and well-connected. She did a good deal of business in Saltmarsh, including trading in the rarest of magical items that came through the docks, but her prices were steep.

Her tail swished under her long coat. She pushed herself off from the wall and sauntered closer. "That's _Captain_ Xendros, Faithful Quartermaster of Iuz." She waltzed around Rev, her gold eyes sweeping down to Rev's boots and back up again. "You finally have a name, Revenge Blackwind. Dear Morgan would have liked it. You look so much like her, you know, except for those eyes, and these." The smuggler reached out and ran a clawed finger under one of the white streaks in her hair, pulling it forward over Rev's shoulder as she had her own braid. "These are also your father's." Her hand almost brushed Rev's ear. "He was a terribly pretty man."

"What do you want?" Rev took a step back, even as she felt her breath catch. Her heart raced. She felt very alone in the Tiefling's presence. She missed Bastard's comforting weight on her shoulder.

"You've come into money," Xendros said with a coy grin. "I was hoping to tempt you." Her voice dropped lower and took on a husky tone.

Rev didn't respond, her throat felt tight, and her face, hot.

Xendros chuckled as she moved closer again. "For fifty gold, I can find you something special." Xendros reached out and ran a hand over Rev's healing shoulder. "It's hard to live by the sword. I might have something that could help."

Rev heard the flapping of wings and Bastard crashed into her back, hitting the side of her face. He hissed and lunged forward to bite the Tiefling.

Xendros threw her head back and laughed, a strangely musical sound. "That's a fine bird you have."

"Indeed," Rev said, grateful for her parrot.

Xendros melted back into the shadows. "Think about my offer. I have what you need."

Rev thought about their encounter as she headed back to the pub. When she tucked into the safety of the patched together building, none of her friends were there. She sat at the bar as Heartless Copper brought her an ale without question. "Rattled?" the innkeep asked.

"Xendros," she responded and took a long drink of the ale. Bastard climbed down onto the bar and Heartless scratched his head. He blinked his eyes shut in blissful appreciation.

Heartless chuckled. "I always liked that Tiefling. She has a way of getting under one's skin."

"You can say that again." Rev rubbed the arrow wound in her shoulder. Thanks to Merantha, it hadn't scarred, but the muscle still felt sore. Or was she rubbing it just to forget the feeling of Xendros' fingertips dragging over the rough cloth of her shirt.

She was vulnerable, and her only skill was with a blade. She was never good with a bow, and she couldn't shoot magic from her hands the way Merantha and Ruanea often did. She had to fight close, but she couldn't put on armor. She wouldn't be able to move. She had to find ways to protect herself from further harm, or she could die before she ever discovered her mother's betrayer.

She should save her money and use it to fix up the house. But the ownership of the house was in contention, and did she really want to be responsible for protecting a property when she really wanted to be at sea. Again, all of this would be for naught if she couldn't survive. She wished she had Silvey's advice. He was never one to hoard his money, and always said that was the best way to get it stolen.

Her decision came quickly. She would take the Tiefling's offer, and hope for something she could use for protection.

It took several more meetings with Xendros before they haggled an agreed upon price, and each meeting left Rev a little unsettled. The Tiefling captain was always gracious, and by the end of their bartering, she couldn't help liking the woman. After weeks, Xendros sent word that she had something to offer. The others had heard about her haggling, and wanted to accompany her, but she wanted to face the Tiefling alone. Or did she just want a final private conversation with her? She pushed that thought away quickly.

Rev felt the rush of excitement as she made her way through the docks. Her arms and legs tingled as she found Xendros sitting at an old gambling table tucked behind piles of nets.

"I knew you would come," she said with a dark inflection in her voice. Her gold eyes glittered in the light of the single candle sputtering on the table. Rev sat down with her heart in her throat. She left Bastard sleeping on the back of a chair in her room in the inn. Xendros leaned forward, and Rev felt the Tiefling's tail trace up her calf. "I found some special things for you," she smiled. "I have an assortment of potions, but that's not what you are after. We shouldn't bother with them. The way I see it, you have a choice." She bent over and pulled something out of a sack. She placed a gorgeous lute on the table. "The way of your father," she said, then took out a folded gray cloak that seemed to disappear into the shadows on the table. "Or the path of your mother."

Rev reached out and touched the strings of the lute. They hummed under her fingertips. "That instrument will grant you magical powers beyond what you can achieve on your own. Invisibility, the power to befriend animals, levitation, and more," Xendros said. The candlelight fell into the pools of shadows formed by her dark hair.

Rev looked at the cloak, and had a hard time seeing it in the dim light. "But this," Xendros said, drawing her hand over the folded bundle, "Is woven with Elven magic. It will allow you to hide in an instant and avoid detection. You can get within blade's reach and escape again leaving only bodies in your wake." Xendros leaned back and crossed her arms in a way that accentuated her cleavage. "So which path would you choose?"

The light shimmered over the pearls inlaid in the dark wood of the lute, but for as beautiful as it was, Rev couldn't picture herself standing in a battle playing a lute and singing. Almost without her bidding, her hand found the cloak. It felt soft and warm beneath her palm.

Xendros flashed a wicked smile, then took the bag of gold off the table. "I knew I liked you." She stood. Rev did as well, swinging the cloak over her shoulders. "Until next time, young Halborn." Xendros held out a hand, and Rev took it. The Tiefling gave her a firm squeeze, then let her fingers slide suggestively through Rev's palm. With a smile and a wink, she disappeared.

Rev returned to the inn but didn't sleep well between fitful dreams.

The next morning Rev woke to a commotion downstairs. With Bastard on her fist, she hurried to see what the fuss was about. Her friends were all gathered by the bar. "What's going on?" Rev asked as Bastard climbed up to her shoulder.

Heartless turned to her. "An urgent message from Ferrin. Captain Xendros has been kidnapped by a band of goblins."

Rev felt the words like a punch in the gut. "Ferrin needs help. Let's go," she said already heading out of the pub. She might have said Ferrin's name, but he was not who she was thinking about as they ran through the streets. They found Ferrin in town, so upset he was pacing in circles. In the distance, a cloud of dust rose from the road that led up to the old estate. Why were the goblins taking Xendros there?

"Hey! Hey!" Ferrin called. "Boy am I glad to see all y'uns. They took Xendros. You have to get her back!" Farrin looked pale and his eyes wild with desperation.

"What is this Xendros to you?" Elgoth asked.

"Now don't you never no mind about that!" Ferrin scolded.

Merantha opened her mouth to say something but Ferrin interrupted her. "There's two hundred gold in it for you, just go, go now!"

Borassos shrugged and waved them forward as he started off down the road. They ran hard over the wooden walkways and up the long road. They gained on the goblins with each step. Rev hoped that Xendros could slow her captors down enough to allow them to catch up.

"Look out!" Ruanea shouted.

Arrows sliced through the air just inches from Ruanea's head. Rev turned to her, but then felt the piercing burn as a second arrow drove into the back of her shoulder. Rev twisted and a goblin stood with his bow, only a head and shoulders above the dried grasses. He cackled at her then ducked down into the grasses and disappeared.

Elgoth ran forward and grabbed him by the ear. The goblin screamed, and even though her shoulder burned with pain and she could still feel the shaft of the arrow moving in her muscle, Rev ran forward and with a slashing blow of her new cutlass, cut off the goblin's head.

Ruanea ran to the other side of the road cursing in Sylvan, then sent a blast of fire out of her hands, setting the grass alight. The smoke curled into the air as the flames swept through the dried grass, but it didn't flush out the other archer.

More arrows flew. One struck Ruanea's arm, and Rev didn't have a chance to look behind her before she felt another piercing blow in her thigh. She cried out and gripped the shaft as her vision went white with pain. Bastard flew off, circling over the field as random arrows flew up toward him as well.

Borassos ran forward toward the flames and swung his hammer at a spot in the grass that was shaking in a suspicious way. The hammer met goblin flesh with a smacking thud. Merantha shot a blast over Borassos' shoulder but couldn't hit the goblin with Borassos in the way.

The goblin drew a knife and stabbed Borassos in the leg. Immediately a snap of energy crackled through the air, as whips of lightning lashed out from Borassos' body. The goblin got caught in the surge, and convulsed in the tangle of white light, before dropping to the ground, dead.

Rev stumbled toward Elgoth. An arrow flew straight at his heart, but he twisted away just in time, then dropped down into the grass, tugging at the straps of his shield.

"They keep popping out of the grass like marmots!" Merantha shouted. Ruanea missed one with ice, but Merantha's blast hit her mark and the goblin went flying down the hillside.

Elgoth rose with his longbow drawn as Rev ducked down into the grasses. She threw her cloak over her body and slowly pulled the arrow out of her thigh. With a gasp of pain, she staunched the wound, then reached up to pull the second arrow out of her shoulder.

Singing her father's song, the pain slowly eased, but it sounded like chaos around her. As her flesh drew back together with the power of her song, she noticed two goblins low in the grass sneaking toward Elgoth.

He turned and shot one straight through the eye.

A powerful boom of thunder rolled like a wave over the road, and Rev heard Borassos shout praise to his god as two goblins screamed in agony, then fell silent.

Bastard circled over Rev squawking, "He's dead! He's dead!" in a panicked voice. She really needed to work on his pronouns, unless it was Elgoth who was hit. The goblin bows were merciless.

She turned over, still holding her bleeding leg, and saw Merantha's boot. She held out her glowing hand. As Rev took it, warmth flowed through her and pain eased even more. Her leg stopped bleeding as she reached her feet. "Now maybe your bird will shut up," Merantha said, then she cried out and fell forward.

An arrow had struck her near her hip. The goblin dropped his bow and drew a sword. "I see you," he cackled, but before he could stop speaking, Rev stabbed him through the mouth with her rapier, drew his head up, and lopped it clean off with her cutlass.

Elgoth was bent over, with a goblin stalking toward him. The goblin suddenly froze with Ruanea's icicles hanging from his long nose and ears.

"By all that is holy, hear me now!" Borassos called as he pressed his hands together and bowed his head.

"Not again," Merantha moaned as Rev helped steady her. "That never works!"

A small blue flame appeared above the last goblin's head. Rev expected to see it flicker out, but in a rush, the flame grew, as if someone had poured a whole cask of potent liqueur on the flame. The fire cascaded over the goblin, engulfing him in blue fire.

They all took a step back as the heat blasted them. When it finally died down, all that was left was a charred shell in a vaguely goblin shape.

Borassos blinked at the pile of ash. "It worked?"

"I don't believe it," Ruanea said, but then she smiled.

"Borassos!" Rev shouted. "You did it!" She laughed as Bastard landed on his shoulder.

"He's DEAD!" the bird squawked in Borassos' ear, then flew back to Rev.

"It seems your god has not abandoned you after all," Elgoth said as he stumbled toward them. An arrow pierced his shoulder, and another lodged in his side. He held a hand over his stomach as he limped, a wound in his leg bleeding profusely. By the gods, he looked like a pincushion.

They were all wounded. Ruanea helped Merantha with the injury to her hip. Borassos was still bleeding from his leg, and she looked like a goat at slaughter. But at the moment, Elgoth seemed the worst off.

Rev ran over to him as he pulled the arrow from his side with an agonized grunt. She helped hold him steady. "Pull it quickly," he said to her.

She nodded, then slid one hand over his shoulder as she gripped the shaft of the arrow sticking out from his back. She could feel his muscle rising with his breath beneath her palm. He drew in and held it, waiting. Rev bit her lip and closed her eyes, then yanked hard.

Elgoth fell to his knees in front of her without crying out. She quickly helped him up. He popped the cork on one of the healing potions they had found at the house and quaffed the drink in one desperate gulp. He shuddered, then straightened as if he hadn't just been brought low by goblin arrows. He looked at Rev. He didn't say thank you. He didn't have to.

Borassos still looked as if Ruanea had hit him with one of her icy spells. His shocked expression hadn't left his face. Finally, he shook his head and smiled at Merantha. "What did you think of that? My prayer worked."

She lifted one shoulder in a careless shrug as she limped back onto the road. "I think we need to hurry. Come on."

They pushed on to the abandoned house and quietly set an ambush around the front door. "We don't know what part of the house they are in," Ruanea said. "We know the layout well. If we can find where they are, we'll have an advantage against them."

"I have an idea," Rev murmured. She tucked herself behind the rose bush, then called out in a loud and goblin-like cackle. "The humans and elves are dead! They fell right into our trap!"

She was hoping to draw them out, but her voice was so convincing, Borassos stood up and gripped his hammer looking for the goblins.

"I don't think they are in the upper house," Elgoth said, coming out from behind the garden wall.

"They must be down in the caves," Rev stepped around the rose bush.

"Or they are on a boat," Borassos pointed over the cliff to a large rowboat paddling swiftly out to sea. In the center, a tall figure sat bound, but there was no mistaking the red skin of her arms, or the horns curling back over her dark hair.

Elgoth rushed forward drawing his bow.

"Whatever you do, don't hit the captain," Ruanea warned.

Elgoth loosed the arrow, and it flew long and true… until it struck Xendros right in the back of her arm. They heard her cry out in pain as Elgoth pulled another arrow and let it fly, hitting the goblin next to her in the head. The goblin fell overboard.

"Elgoth!" Merantha scolded. "That was the one thing you were _not_ supposed to do."

"Well it was a very tricky shot!" He drew his bow one more time, then lowered it shaking his head. "They are out of my range."

"Indeed," Ruanea said shielding her eyes. In the distance they could see a large ship with distinctive yellow markings painted on the side. "There is no way to reach them. We need to know who sails that ship."

"Eda will know." Rev sheathed her blades and set off back down the road. "But first we need to tell Ferrin what happened."

Back at the mangrove swamp, they knocked on Ferrin's door, but there was no answer. The dark-haired halfling sitting on the back roots called out to them. "If yer lookin' for Ferrin. He's not here. He said to give you this."

The halfling tossed a bag of gold with fifty pieces in it, then picked his teeth with his pinky nail. "He told me to tell yous that he knows you done tried."

They divvied up the gold and walked back into town to find Eda. The gold was hardly a balm for the shame Rev was feeling at their failure. Even Bastard was unusually subdued as he fluffed his feathers near her ear.

It didn't take long to reach Eda's place, a large old house that wasn't as ostentatious as some of the others, but practical and weather-worn, as if it has survived its share of storms through sheer stubbornness. She was waiting for them on the front porch.

"Did you get her?" she asked as she stood. Her spiked gray hair stood up on end as if she had been rubbing one of her rough hands through it. Rev wasn't surprised that the old sailor already knew what was going on.

"In a manner of speaking," Elgoth admitted. "The boat was moving. It was not my fault that the arrow went astray."

"You shot her!" Eda's storm-cloud eyes flashed with fire. "Do you have any idea how important Xendros is to Saltmarsh?"

"It was an accident." Elgoth threw up his hands. "I managed to kill the goblin next to her."

"They rowed out to a ship with yellow markings on the side, a kind of waving pattern," Ruanea explained.

Eda rubbed her chin. "That's Old One-Eye's ship, the Cold Kraken. He's been causing trouble on the water lately, but to take Xendros!" She crossed her arms and paced with sweeping steps, as if she were used to the motion of a ship's deck beneath her feet. "This is bold even for him. I may not approve of her negotiation methods, but everyone here knows her. She is one of us. That goblin pirate would know that Old Saltmarsh wouldn't take this lying down, not that the Ke'laners care." She snorted. "Maybe they'll send their _navy_." She stopped and stared out at the town. "Thank you for your aid. There's nothing to be done about it for now. We will speak to you at the council meeting in a few days."

"Until then," Rev stated. The party slowly turned and walked down the road toward the Salty Fish. They needed to tend to their lingering wounds, and something was bothering Rev. Why did the goblins go to her family's house? Of all the places they could have run in this town, why there?

The tingle of suspicion gnawed at her, the way Bastard was chewing on her ear. She had questions, and those questions needed answers.

**Commentary: This session introduced two of my favorite NPCs, Heartless Copper and Xendros. Both women fascinate me, and if these adventures with this party continue beyond the "book" I hope to meet them again. In my mind, and my DM has confirmed that he thinks this too, Xendros is a master negotiator and knows how to get under the skin of anyone she is dealing with. Clearly the easiest way to get under Rev's skin is to flirt with her. Nothing rattles her more. Elgoth shooting her was a really funny turn of events. Our DM laid out that he could take a shot, but it was going to be tricky. Of course he rolled a 1. Though Elgoth had an epic failure, Borassos finally after six weeks had his first taste of success! Sacred flame finally worked for him, though the spell's unreliability remained a running joke for a long time.**


	7. Chapter 7

Dungeons & Dragons/Saltmarsh

Episode 7

In the wake of Xendros' disappearance, the mood in Saltmarsh had grown grim. The tension lingered in the air like the smell of rotting fish, and Rev could see its effects all throughout the town. People were arguing, bar fights kept breaking out, and the people walking along the Old Shark Fin Bridge looked a little more ill than usual. The catch hadn't come in, and with superstition running rampant among the sailors and fishermen, it didn't seem like anything could be made right. To make matters worse, Ferrin had disappeared as well, though most seemed certain it was of his own volition. Still, it made many of the people in town nervous that he wasn't around.

Even the town guards were talking about how the king wouldn't stand for a kidnapping like this, and that his justice would be swift. None of the fishermen seemed to believe it.

In spite of all of that, Rev and the others used their time to listen to rumors and gather information about the councilmembers in preparation for the meeting. There were five members of the council. Eda and Gellin Primewater, they had already met. The other three they had not, and Ruanea, Mirantha, and Rev all believed more information was better when it came to being prepared. They weren't so sure about the men. They seemed more interested in ale than politics.

From what they had gleaned about the council, Eliander Fireborn was a former military man and very much the king's voice on the council. He had lost a leg at some point, but was considered honest and kind, though the old blood in Saltmarsh considered him one of the newcomers. He seemed welcome in town, but some of his policies favoring the king and the town guard were not always welcome.

Manistrad Copperlocks was a dwarf woman in charge of the dwarven mining operation outside of town. It didn't sit well amongst the locals that she had been appointed to the council instead of elected.

The final member was Anders Solmor. Rev remembered his mother. She was the head of most of Saltmarsh's fishing industry. Young, wealthy, and handsome, he had taken up the reins of the fishing contingent upon his mother's death. While he was a vocal anti-smuggler, he was generally well liked in town. The sailors and fishermen respected the fact that he had been raised working hard on the fishing boats in the harbor instead of pampered by his wealth.

"What do you think they want with us?" Rev asked the other women as the three sat at a table down in the pub. Borassos was still sleeping, and no one knew what Elgoth was doing upstairs.

Ruanea shrugged and licked her finger before casually turning a page in her book. Bastard was sleeping on the edge of the table, with one of his feet tucked up into his green feathers.

"Whatever it is, I hope it pays well," Merantha said.

Suddenly Elgoth appeared at the top of the stairs. He wore only his ruined silk shirt and a pair of breeches. His dark hair, which was usually tied back fell wild around his face, and he had a passionate look in his glittering elven eyes.

He stormed down the stairs. "Ruanea, I need you."

Ruanea flipped another page of her book. "Don't care."

"Please," he said, his voice low and hoarse. "I'm desperate."

"No."

Rev felt a nervous churning in her stomach. "Elgoth, what is it?"

"Not now, short-tips," he snapped. "Ruanea, come upstairs with me now, and I promise I will show you mysteries that you could only ever dream about. I need you, and only you."

Ruanea rolled her eyes as she snapped her book closed. "Will it get you to shut up?" she said in Elvish, clearly exasperated.

Elgoth nodded.

"Fine." She stood from the table and followed him up the stairs.

Rev watched them go as Bastard woke up and shook out his feathers. "What do you think it going on?" she asked Merantha.

"Ooooohhh, Peg Leg Bill was a randy rake," Bastard sang. "Hahahahaha!"

"Shut up, Bastard!" Rev snapped. "Heartless, could I get some brandy over here?" The innkeeper appeared at her elbow with a glass of brandy that was at least a finger fuller than her usual pour. Rev downed it in one gulp.

Merantha laughed. "Don't worry, Rev. Elgoth is many things, but a seducer is not one of them. I'm sure it's nothing."

Rev laughed uneasily. "I don't care what Elgoth does," she said, but her voice sounded harsh and tense. "Or who he does it with."

They heard a loud banging coming from directly above the pub.

"Heartless, could I get another?" Rev lifted her hand in the air. The innkeeper gave her a pitying look as she brought another glass.

"Listen," Merantha, placed her hand on Rev's so she couldn't bring the brandy to her lips. "I had a strange dream last night. I'm not sure what to make of it."

Rev turned her attention to her friend. Merantha blushed.

"I believe I was sleeping. It's strange, it felt so real. I know I was in bed, when the figure of a man appeared before me. He was beautiful, like an artist's sculpture come to life, but he had these glorious wings that seemed to fill the whole room. And as he came near my bed, I found myself in such an awed ecstasy in his presence that I couldn't speak."

The banging continued, and Rev drank the second brandy. "This isn't helping."

"No, just listen." Merantha looked both wild and amazed. "He leaned in close, so close I could feel the heat of him on my skin."

Rev groaned as she threw her head back and tipped her chair, staring at the ceiling where the loud banging continued followed by a strange moan and a shriek.

"Rev, are you listening?!" Merantha whapped her in the arm, and Rev returned her chair legs to the floor. "This being told me that he has been protecting me, that he has always been with me. And when I woke up, I found this." She produced a simple leather book.

Rev took it from her and opened the pages, but it was blank. "Well, I'm sure that's helpful." Bastard knocked over the glass and it shattered on the floor. He laughed maniacally.

"No, look." When Merantha opened the book, a mysterious writing appeared in glowing gold lettering. It washed across the pages like a wave. It was unlike any writing Rev had ever seen. "I don't know what it says, but when I read it, I suddenly know. I understand more than what I had before. Now I feel there's new magic within me. Watch." With a wave of her hand, the glittering pieces rattled on the wooden floor, then flew together in a tinkling of glass. A flawless glass rested against the wood. Rev picked it up, amazed.

"Well that should come in handy," Heartless said as she poured Rev a third brandy in the newly repaired glass. She looked over at the pile of wrecked furniture from the last bar fight.

"OH GODS!" Ruanea screeched from above them.

"YEEEEESSSSSSSSSS!" Came Elgoth's scratchy voice.

Rev downed the final brandy and made to stand from the table. A door slammed open and at the top of the stairs a strange sight met them. The landing filled with a churning green smoke with a skull floating within it. The jaw came open in a toothy grin, then the skull flew down the stairs and straight for the bar.

"Fitzmina?!" Merantha squeaked.

Rev looked at her empty glass of brandy and then back up as the animated skull headed straight for Heartless, happily clacking her teeth. Rev warily placed the glass back on the table.

"Can I help you?" Heartless said as she turned around. When she saw the floating skull, she screamed and ducked down beneath the bar. Fitzmina tipped her skull over the bar to look down on the cowering barkeep.

Elgoth appeared at the top of the stairs. "It worked!" He ran down the stairs cackling as Ruanea followed him pulling her book back out as if nothing had happened. When she reached the table, she used her foot to pull a chair out and elegantly sat in it.

"You reanimated the skull?!" Merantha shouted, sounding both alarmed and impressed.

Ruanea shrugged and kept reading.

Bastard hunched down on the table with his wings out as he hissed at the flying skull.

Heartless finally gathered her composure enough to rise from behind the bar. Fitzmina floated over to the cask of brandy and bobbed over it. "I am NOT serving that thing!" Heartless shouted, with her face turning red. "It was creepy enough when it didn't fly."

"Of course," Elgoth placated as he snapped at the skull and pointed to a place beside him. She dropped down about a foot and hung her head as she bobbed over to him. "She needs to cut back on her drinking anyway."

Heartless reached into the large glass jar sitting on the counter and drew out the last pickle. Looking exasperated, she slowly chewed on it. "And if I ever see that thing down here without you." She dramatically poured out the pickle juice, then violently overturned the jar on the counter. With a jabbing finger, she pointed at Fitzmina and then the empty jar.

Fitzmina closed her jaw and drooped down. Her green smoke fell in melancholy waves to the floor.

"Good, we understand one another." She took a large and angry bite off the pickle, then retreated to the back room.

Borassos appeared at the top of the stairs, yawning sleepily. He came down the stairs with his eyes half-closed. "Good morning, Rev. Hello Bastard."

"Who are you calling a Bastard? Bastard!" Bastard greeted back.

Borassos continued down the line. Elgoth stood awkwardly by the bar with Fizmina floating in her cloud of green smoke beside him. "Greetings, Ruanea, Merantha, Elgoth, Fitzmina," Borassos continued without hesitation, as if it were perfectly normal to see a floating skull at breakfast. He scratched his hip. "What did I miss?"

# # #

On the night of the town meeting, they arrived at the council chambers, a large and almost entirely empty room. Aside from their party, the only inhabitants of Saltmarsh were the council members, two teen girls smiling and giggling in the chairs closest to Anders Solmor, a tired looking fisherman, and a very old couple that looked to either be asleep, or possibly dead.

Eda Oland had the center place at the long table, Gellin puffed up his chest as he made a production of taking a seat just to her right. Anders sat beside him, with his faithful butler, Skerron Wavecatcher whispering something in his ear. There were long rumors that Skerron was a lover to Anders' mother, and still had a great influence over the young man as a surrogate father. If confronted, he would only ever confess to being the Solmor butler.

Eliander stood very proudly to Eda's left, and announced that these proceedings were very important, and the foundation for the peace and prosperity of Saltmarsh, as if he were the one in control of the council. He spoke as if the entire room were full of people, not nearly empty.

Rev crossed her arms and leaned up against a post. Bastard climbed up the post into the rafters and met Fitzmina there. He pecked her between the eyes in greeting, and the skull opened her jaw in a toothy grin. Thankfully no one on the council noticed the two troublemakers.

"Enough of your jabbering on, Fireborn. We have work here to do," Manistrad insisted from the spot on the far left. The dwarf leader was in no mood to dawdle. "What is the first order of business."

The terrified fisherman came forward and presented his case about the declining weight of the salmon catch and its effects on the overall prices of the catches in the fish markets.

They droned on and on about fish weights. Borassos had taken a seat and yawned as he stretched his legs out. He seemed inclined to join the old couple in their nap. Ruanea appeared genuinely interested in the argument over manipulating the markets to support the floundering salmon catch. Merantha picked at a loose thread on her tunic, while Elgoth kept a wary eye on his skull hidden in the rafters.

Rev felt equally worried about Bastard, but didn't panic until he started singing, "Ooooooooh, Stinky Mitch does not like fish…"

"Bastard!" Rev scolded in a hushed voice. Fitzmina clattered her teeth in encouragement.

"He would not taste a single dish," Bastard continued. "His reluctance made his wife IRAAAAAAATE!"

"Get down here!" Rev waved to her bird.

He flapped his wings. "So she let another eat her plate!"

"It is done!" Manistrad declared, then waved an impatient hand at the fisherman who slinked out of the council looking both weary and relieved. "Final order of business."

Eda stood. "Here are the events as they have happened in recent days," Eda said in a grave voice. "Goblins under the direction of One-Eye, captain of the Cold Kraken abducted captain Xendros. Before that, a smuggling ring was broken up by the five strangers that have gathered here at this meeting." She stared directly at them. "There is a problem here, and we must address it."

Gellin leaned forward, but his protruding stomach only allowed it to a certain point. "Problem is such a harsh word for minor infractions," he said in a slightly sniveling voice.

"Goblins used the Smuggler's Hole, the cave adjoining the old Halborn estate at the top of the cliffs," Eda continued. "Through this weak point in the town's defenses, they managed to take Captain Xendros, one of our own."

"Smuggler's Hole," Gellin pulled a face. "Must we really call it something so vulgar? It should be called something pleasant, something that reflects well on us and our fine community."

Manistrad dropped her face into her palm.

"The _Smuggler's Hole_," Eda said with her voice honing like the edge of a blade. "Has been a problem for far too long. Smugglers have been using the caves unseen for decades."

"Which is why we have asked you to come here today," Eliander said, his strong voice filling the hall. "We propose to set up a trap, to rid us once and for all of the smugglers that have used the hole to their illegal advantage."

"A trap for whom?" Ruanea asked. "One-Eye, the goblin?"

"No," Anders said. He sat up straight in his chair, almost as if he were trying to mimic Eliander's presence. "The ship that Sanbalet supplied, the one that is due at the new moon, was not the Cold Kraken. The fishing fleets have not been able to identify it. It comes in the cover of darkness and disappears on the sea like a ghost. It's these mystery smugglers that concern us."

"I thought they wanted Xendros back," Merantha whispered.

Borassos shrugged, "A job is a job."

Rev spoke up. "It seems to me, the problem is that there is no one who is willing to guard the house. If the house had a clear owner, it would be a lot more difficult for smugglers to run goods through the caves below."

"Ah well you see, that's the problem," Gellin confessed. "You see, the house is technically owned in parts. As you know, it is the Halborn estate founded by your grandfather and owned by your late mother, and as heir to that name, a _part_ of the house is yours."

Rev shifted her weight. "And the other parts?"

"Well, this is awkward, but I am afraid that the ownership was split in an agreement between five parties. As a Halborn, you have one share, I have one share," Gelling placed both his hands delicately on his chest. "And the sailor Silvereye recently sold his share to the council."

"What?" Rev exclaimed.

"I own a part," Anders admitted. "And Captain Xendros held the other share."

"And so you see," Gellin said in a slightly sniveling voice. "There can be no single owner invested in the property."

Rev approached the council slowly, never breaking eye contact with Gellin. Beads of sweat broke out over his brow. "It would seem to me that certain wealthy merchants in Saltmarsh might find it a relief to have ownership of the property come into the hands of a party willing to protect it. If not, think of the goods, like fine silks, and heady brandy, that could fall prey to thieving smugglers intent on stealing from Saltmarsh."

Gellin turned bright red at her insinuation and huddled together with the other council members. Rev smiled, glad he had picked up the gauntlet she had just laid at his feet.

They seemed to reach a conclusion that drew back around to the price of fish and the taxes gained from the profits and straightened in their chairs. Rev had a feeling whatever they had just agreed would not sit well with the fisherman who had argued his case earlier.

"I would be willing to forgo my share of the property," Gellin proclaimed. "And the council is willing to gift their share, along with four hundred gold to any who can rid Saltmarsh of this smuggling threat." He straightened, but still looked pale.

Anders lifted a hand. "I am willing to sell my share for a price, but only after I am sure the Smuggler's Hole has been secured. As for the final share, you are going to have to take that up with Xendros, if she is ever found."

Eliander rose. "It seems we have a course of action." He placed his palms on the table. "Come up with a plan to entrap and defeat these smugglers, and the council will help you see it done."

"Agreed!" Manistrad pounded her fist on the table. "Meeting adjourned. I need an ale."

# # #

That night, the five of them sat around a table in the corner of the Salty Fish and tried to figure out a plan. After much difficult debate and scrapping an idea about using sorcery to try to convince the ship's crew that they were haunted by the ghost of Sanbalet, they settled on a what felt like a better plan.

When the sailors came to help load Sanbalet's now missing loot, they would use fake goods to convince the sailors that their Captain was skimming off the top of their profits and stealing from the crew. If all went well, hopefully the crew would mutiny against their captain, and they wouldn't have to fight the entire ship.

Together they set up a mock jolly boat filled with casks of watered-down brandy, and a few bolts of linen under a silk wrapper.

On the night of the new moon, they waited on the cliff, peering out over the dark waters. A thin fog lingered over the seas, making the night feel even more ominous.

Bastard slept on Rev's shoulder as Merantha worked the signal lantern. She peered at the scrap of paper in the dim light.

Ruanea crossed her arms. "I don't think they're coming."

"They'll be here," Elgoth said. Just then a dark form slid forward through the mists. A fast and agile smuggler's ship waited in the darkness. A light blinked from somewhere on deck.

"_Is it safe?_" the flashing code blinked out.

Merantha fiddled with the lever, opening and closing the lantern. "_Everything is safe._"

"_Ready to unload, come to the ship._" The lights blinked three long flashes in the gloom.

"We can't sail out to them," Merantha said. "We need them to come to us. There's no code for that."

"Repeat the message," Elgoth suggested as Fitzmina floated out over the edge of the cliff.

Merantha flashed three long slow flashes.

There was a pause. Rev held her breath, wondering how they would respond.

Three more long flashes blinked back.

"They still want us to come to the ship," Merantha sounded worried. "What do we do?"

"We can't convince the crew that the captain is stealing if he's right there. He'll know we're not members of Sanbalet's crew." Rev began to pace on the top of the cliff as Bastard woke up and shook out his feathers.

"We can always storm the ship and fight," Elgoth said. "Or I could catch the sails on fire." Fitzmina swooped over and grinned.

"For the last time, Elgoth." Rev faced the wild elf. He had suggested such a course of action when they were planning this raid. "We don't want to burn the ship. If we do, we lose all the loot."

Fitzmina drooped.

In the distance they heard a splash. Ruanea peered into the darkness. "They've lowered a boat. Quick, down to the caves."

Hopeful that their plan might actually work, they hurried through the house and down into the Smuggler's Hole, where their jolly boat and decoy loot awaited them. A small boat arrived with four sailors at the oars, and an enormous bear of a man standing in the front. The torch light gleamed off his greasy beard as he jumped off the front of the boat and stormed forward through the shallow water. The crabs scuttled out of his way. "What is the meaning of this? Why didn't you sail out to the ship? Where's Sanbalet?"

Merantha waved her staff and the air was filled with the smell of honey-roasted apples soaked in warm brandy. The man's entire demeanor changed as his angry pace eased into a cocky saunter. He headed straight for Merantha with a smile on his face. "Well, hellllloooo." The cloud of foul stench that wafted through the cavern in the wake of the pirate, nearly overwhelmed them. Merantha choked as he backed her up against the wall and cocked his elbow up against the stone just over her head. She turned visibly green. "We called you here to tell you that Sanbalet was stealing," she choked out.

The pirate looked confused as the other sailors pushed the boat onto the sand.

"Of course he was stealing, we're smugglers," the pirate stated. "And good ones at that. Do you mind if I buy you a brandy once this work is done?"

Merantha looked panicked. "No the captain was stealing!"

"From you!" Rev interrupted, trying to help Merantha before she died from stench. "The captain and Sanbalet were running a scam to cheat us out of our fair share of the profits. They took the best brandy and watered down the rest, then sold bolts of linens under the silks. On the crew register of goods, we were given a cut out of the worst, while they kept the best for themselves!"

The pirate turned and Merantha waved a hand in front of her face. "What is that wench yammering on about?"

Merantha took a gulp of air, "The captain was watering down the brandy."

"What?" the pirate moved away from her, and she gasped like a drowning person who had just been dragged to shore. He pulled one of the fake casks off the boat and pulled the bung. "You there, taste this," he ordered.

One of the young sailors took a gulp from the watered cask. "It's definitely watered." He filled his cup again and shared it with the others. "See you can taste it," he took another large gulp. "It's watered all right." The others nodded in agreement, even as they gestured for more.

"So, what are we supposed to do about watered brandy?" the pirate asked, turning back to Merantha. "Well," she hesitated. "You should mutiny!"

"We can't do that," the pirate insisted.

Rev stood up on a rock and focused on the young smugglers drinking the brandy. "We live a hard life," she began as Bastard danced back and forth on her shoulder. "We risk our lives every day. We risk being caught by the guards and thrown in prison. The captain never takes such risk."

One of the sailors started nodding as the burly pirate was now openly trying to ask Merantha for a date.

"All we ask, as pirates and thieves," Rev rose up and raised her voice. "Is to be paid our fair share for an honest day's work."

"Yeah!" One of the pirates said.

"Are you going to stand here and allow your life to hang in the hands of someone who would steal the bread from your mouth, the ale from your tankard, while they hide in their cabin drinking their fine brandy and wearing their fine silks."

"Nay!" another shouted then hiccupped as he drank more of the watered grog.

"So you should go, confront the captain," Merantha tried again. The pirate seemed to consider it.

Finally, he motioned to the to the others. "Take these goods back and show the crew. Tell them that the captain has been skimming off the top of our loot. Don't let him sail off until we get this straightened out."

The crew of four hurried to sail the jolly boat back to the ship. Once they had cleared the sea cave, the pirate turned his attention back to Merantha. "Now that they're gone, what are you doing later?"

Elgoth stabbed him in the back.

He let out a howl of rage, "You bitc….."

Borassos pressed his hands together and lifted them, suddenly the pirate's beard caught on fire. The fight turned ugly as everyone swung madly in the confines of the cave. Bloody and desperate, he took a huge swing at Merantha but his sword clanged off the stone of the cave wall.

As he twisted, Rev stabbed him in the back.

He crumbled to the cave floor with a gurgling groan.

Elgoth looked at the carnage. "Well, the first part went well. We're not dead yet. What now?"

Ruanea walked out to the empty boat they had left behind. "We follow them out."

"But aren't they going to notice if their crewmate isn't with us?" Merantha said pointing at the dead pirate who was already attracting flies.

Ruanea considered the body. "We'll prop him up in the boat." She flashed her hand, and a ghostly version of it flew away from her. It lifted up one of the dead man's arms and made it wave. "No one will know he's dead."

"I cannot decide if that is disturbing or brilliant," Rev said. "Let's do it."

With the dead man propped up in the front of the boat, they rowed out to the waiting ship. Elgoth kept a tight hold on Fitzmina, urging her to be stealthy. As they approached, they could hear arguing coming from the ship. The crew had gathered on the main deck in an angry mob, with the captain, the first mate, and the ship's wizard huddled together near the bow.

Ruanea took a deep breath, then tried something new. A net of sticky webs flew over the three officers on the deck. In the shock at their attack, Rev and the others climbed swiftly aboard. Elgoth and Borassos ran toward the webs, but Rev moved straight toward the crew.

"Hail men of the sea!" she shouted, and they stopped their arguing to turn to her. In the corner of her eye, she saw one of the men trapped in the web disappear, and then the bow lit up with Ruanea's purple missiles and Borassos' blue fire. "You are men who live by blood and loyalty. Will you stand with someone willing to cheat you out of the loot you have rightfully stolen? Or will you stand with me?"

"Aye, aye, captain!" Bastard cheerfully called in support.

Fitzmina flew by so close that Rev had to duck. Her trail of green smoke forming a long tail behind her.

Some of the men cheered for her, but the others still looked undecided and wary. Rev watched as the ship wizard shut himself inside the cabin. The bar on the door slammed shut.

The first mate broke free from the web and rushed at Elgoth, slashing him with a terrible blow from his blade. At the same time, the captain's hat lit with blue fire as Borassos laughed.

"Brave sailors, we all know the sea can be a harsh mistress. Is it worth it to risk your life for someone who would willingly cheat you of the stolen goods that are rightfully yours?"

More nods this time, and a few men grabbed belaying pins.

"I ask you now. Stand with me, a fellow traveler of the tides, and I will give you what's fair." Rev lifted her sword as the final indecisive few let out a cheer. "Mutiny on the captain!"

"Maroon the scum!" Bastard screeched from the rigging.

Rev turned to meet the blade of the first mate, who had run for her. Rev countered the attack, but her rapier deflected off the man's armor. Borassos' blue fire burned all around them, while Elgoth lit his own cutlass with magical fire and struck at the captain.

The first mate slashed his blade through the air, and it cut Rev on her side. She cried out and held the wound, then noticed the captain spinning in a circle trying to extinguish Borassos' flames. As he turned, she stabbed him, and he fell to the deck.

"I'll be your captain now!" she victoriously declared to the crew as they watched their former leader fall.

Merantha used the moment to blast the first mate. He tumbled over the rail and into the water. The cheering crew rushed forward and threw fishing hooks and belaying pins at the first mate, until his lifeless body disappeared into the black water.

"Quick, the wizard," Ruanea shouted and made for the door. Borassos broke it open with his hammer, but the room was empty. Lace curtains swirled in the breeze as they found a small balcony, much like Milo and Callie's, and from it, the wizard had clearly stolen the captain's lifeboat. They could see him sailing away far in the distance.

"Rats," Elgoth said as Fitzmina floated off the back of the boat. "I suppose we must let him go."

"We have more pressing matters to attend to," Rev said.

They came out of the captain's quarters and the crew cheered as an old man with a shining bald head, and one golden tooth approached her. "Well, captain…"

"Blackwind," Rev offered. The crew nodded and smiled.

"Welcome to the Sea Ghost. Ye've taken the ship and promised to be fair. I am Ugly Whale, the crewmaster. We will show you what secrets the ship holds for a price. And to prevent this sort of trickery in the future, some of us might be willing to sign on as your crew for an honest wage instead of a cut of the profits."

"I can respect that," Rev said, still holding her bleeding side. "Forgive me if I do not shake your hand.

"Of course." They haggled for a bit, then Whale led them below the decks.

Whale opened a door to a cabin in the hold. In a room that smelled vaguely like the swampy water near Ferrin's house, they found three wide-eyed lizard people.

One had the temerity to speak. "I see the ship is under new management…"

**Commentary: Fitzmina lives! She is officially Elgoth's familiar, and one of my favorite elements of the game. Everyone in our game is aware that Rev has a bit of a crush on Elgoth, and enjoy playing with the idea. The DM had a bit of a fun with me here, teasing out that the animation of Fitzmina was some sort of sexual thing, which was even funnier because of how absolutely disinterested in everything Ruanea is. The other scene here that was fun was Merantha trying to charm the pirate. As I mentioned before, Merantha's player and the DM are married, so I think that gave him some liberty to push things a little with her, and she tried so hard when handing it back to him. I was proud of her for jumping into the role playing that day. This week was the first week I really got to play with Rev fully how I conceptualized her character. I wanted Rev to be someone who can talk her way into or out of anything. Her persuasion, deception, and intimidation checks are her strongest abilities, and I enjoy moments in the game when I can really use them.**


	8. Chapter 8

Dungeons & Dragons/Saltmarsh

Episode 8

"So," the largest of the Lizardfolk slinked down off his hammock. "Are you going to deliver the weapons?"

Rev glanced at the others. It seemed Sanbalet was moving more than silk and brandy. "What are your intentions for these weapons, and where are you taking them?" she asked the Lizards.

"We intend to defend ourselves," the Lizard flicked his tongue. "Or is it only the _good _ races that are allowed to defend themselves? Our town is not far from Saltmarsh, and I trust you will honor the former captain's agreement with us."

"The former captain is dead. I killed him." Rev crossed her arms and Bastard flapped his wings. With her blood still running down her side, she leaned casually up against the wall, as if the injury didn't bother her in the least even though she felt dizzy from the blood loss. "As for your agreement. What were the terms, and do you intend harm upon Saltmarsh with these weapons?"

"We will defend ourselves," the Lizard insisted. Clearly the only thing loose about his tongue was the way it kept flicking out of his snout. "We have already paid the last captain ten electrum ingots, and we will not pay the rest until the weapons are delivered."

"I'm sure some time being dragged behind the boat would loosen their tongues," Elgoth said with a wicked gleam in his eyes. "I could cut them to attract more sharks. Then they will speak." Fitzmina flipped over in a loop.

Rev had to admit, the idea had merit. Still, she didn't have enough information to decide their fates just yet. She wasn't against a handsome payout of dubious legality, but she didn't wish for harm to come to Saltmarsh because of it. They needed to investigate further. "Stay here for now, and I will consider your request. If you cause me a problem, your life is forfeit." She nodded to the others, and the left the room. She shut the door behind her.

They climbed up to the main and entered the rooms beneath the poop deck. To the right was the wizard's cabin, with the curtains still fluttering by the open window. The cabin to the left belonged to the captain. It was a cozy but simple room with a single bunk, a pair of chairs, and a writing desk against the wall. Rev glanced at the open desk and noted that there were three letters written in the same hand to three different women proclaiming a longing to return to a simple life centered around home and family. Rev snorted. It seemed the captain was quite the family man, considering he had three different ones on the hook. No wonder he was smuggling, it must have been expensive to have a wife in every port. The drawer to the desk was locked. A chest had been tucked behind the chairs.

Whale came in and thumped his fist twice against a wooden panel behind the desk. A door opened revealing a small room packed with crates of morning stars, javelins, and other such weapons. A shield emblazoned with an emblem of a lizard with an extended tongue rested against the crates.

The shield was the only defensive item in the stash.

"These could do some damage," Ruanea commented as she inspected one of the stars.

"The drawer to the desk is locked," Rev stated. "I wonder if there is correspondence regarding the weapons shipment inside."

Elgoth bent down to inspect the chest. "This is locked as well. We need the keys. Do you suppose they are still with the captain?"

Rev waved her hand indicating he was welcome to look. He came back jingling a set of keys, one of which fit the lock in the chest. With uncanny swiftness, he avoided the blade that whipped out from the chest as he opened the lock. Inside, the silvery bars of electrum gleamed in the light from a flickering lantern. "These Lizards," Elgoth said. "They were telling the truth about the payment. It seems they are willing to pay a high price for these weapons."

He opened the desk drawer, and they discovered some useful potions, and a map of a secret cove where they should deliver the weapons. The x on the map was illustrated with a picture of a lizard.

"This still doesn't reveal the Lizardfolk's intentions," Rev said in frustration, as she slapped the map back down onto the desk.

"Uh, Captain?" Whale looked sheepish in the doorway. "There's something else you should see."

He left the cabin and Rev and the others followed him. They turned right around and entered the wizard's cabin. It was similarly appointed to the captain's. Both held a bunk and a desk, but instead of the two soft chairs, a table occupied the center of the room with a silver bowl of fruit resting upon it. Elgoth found another chest, that had been trapped with poison, but he disarmed it effortlessly and opened it. "Empty," he said in disgust as Fitzmina flew into the chest peering into each of the corners with her hallow eyes.

"That's not what I wished to show you," Whale said as he pounded on another panel and the bulkhead opened up into another small room similar to the weapon's stash. In the dim light, a strange elf with blue skin and long, pale green hair, hung suspended from shackles with a gag in his mouth. His hair fell over his shoulders in twisted locks that resembled tangles of seaweed. It was a sea elf.

"Elgoth, free him," Rev said. He squinted as if he hadn't seen light in a while, but once he focused on their party he struggled against his restraints.

Elgoth gave her a skeptical look, and Fitzmina floated next to his head with a similar expression, in spite of the fact she had no flesh. Reluctantly Elgoth turned and freed the man from his shackles. Rev moved forward and pulled the gag from his mouth.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"Thank you," the sea elf said with such a refined accent that Rev almost didn't understand him. She had been living in the docks for far too long. "I'm afraid I came into a bit of trouble, and I am very grateful that you have freed me."

"How did you come to be prisoner on this ship?" Ruanea asked. Rev backed up against the table. Bastard crawled down her arm and waddled toward the bowl of fruit.

"Ah," the sea elf said, placing his hand upon his bare chest. "My name is Triton Waverider. I am a sea elf from Pacifica, on a mission from King Neptune of Manaan."

"What sort of mission?" Rev demanded. She flicked Bastard's tail when he lunged for an orange in the bowl. She didn't know if they were poisoned. Grabbing an ugly fruit from her pouch, she tossed it onto the table to distract him.

The sea elf cleared his throat. "We had noticed unusual activity over the last few months. My king dispatched me on a mission of discovery to reveal the purpose of the strange movements over our waters. Unfortunately, the mission did not go well for me."

"So, you're a spy," Rev accused.

Triton looked somewhat abashed. "Of a sort. My kind desires very much to create a relationship of mutual benefit between our kingdom and the kingdom of Keoland. My king believed that this shipping operation in our waters might be something the King of Keoland would wish to know about, and so I was sent to procure information."

Whale entered the room carrying a chest. When he opened it, Triton smiled at the contents. "Ah, my things!" He lifted a breastplate made from the bones of some large sea creature over his head. The bones made a musical knocking sound, like wooden windchimes. "They are quite stealthy underwater, but unfortunately they did little to conceal my presence on this ship, which is how I ended up captured."

"How unfortunate," Merantha muttered.

"Perhaps we should interrogate the Lizardfolk," Ruanea said. Just then a commotion broke out on deck. They could hear a loud clatter and metal clanging against metal.

Someone shouted, "You can't have that!" and something crashed against the deck.

Rev ran out to see the three Lizardfolk attempting to drag a jolly boat over the rail. Her new crew had their belaying pins out and were attempting to stop the theft. Instead of reaching for her sword, Rev pulled out her flute instead. She wasn't done with these Lizardfolk just yet.

Scattering some rose petals from the old house, she played one of her father's songs on the flute. One by one, four members of her crew sat down on the deck and fell asleep. The Lizardfolk watched in confusion.

Damn it, that wasn't what she wanted.

Elgoth lit his sword with his green fire as he ran past her. "Yes!" he shouted as Fitzmina flew jubilantly around the deck. He slashed one of the Lizardfolk, and his fire spread to another.

"You attacked us!" The biggest lizard hissed.

"How dare you steal my boat?" Rev countered. They should have stayed in their room. Now any question of delivering the weapons was off the table.

The leader ran forward and caught Rev in the wounded side with a javelin, then lunged forward, sinking his daggerlike teeth into Rev's shoulder. She cried out and Bastard flew out of the cabin screaming, "Kill! Kill! Kill! Die you Bastard! Who are you calling a Bastard? Bastard! DIE!"

Rev shouted as she ripped herself away from the Lizard and staggered across the deck. Ruanea's purple bolts of magic flew over the deck as Merantha ran up behind Rev with her hands glowing with light. The pain in her side and shoulder eased.

Triton ran toward the leader of the Lizards, and his body seemed to swell with every step. Rev watched in shock as he bent over and suddenly transformed into a giant bullfrog that took up half the deck. With a lunging croak, he snapped at the Lizard, capturing the smuggler in his wide jaws. The helpless Lizard kicked, his legs swimming in the air as the bullfrog tucked his head back and squinted in a satisfied manner.

Unable to lift her sword, Rev retrieved her flute and decided to try her spell again. Lowering herself to the deck, she played the flute, and this time, one by one, the Lizardfolk dropped off into sleep even as her own crew began to wake. "Tie them up," Rev ordered the confused and drowsy men.

Elgoth raised his cutlass and snuck behind the others making for one of the sleeping lizard men with a murderous gleam in his eye. Borassos caught his raised wrist and shook his head. Elgoth scowled and with an angry shove, sheathed his blade. He crossed his arms and leaned up against the cabins. "Fine."

Triton spit his Lizard out in a pool of mucus, then transformed back into an elf, but Rev had a hard time decoupling the image of the bullfrog from the man.

Once the men had the Lizardfolk secure on the deck, a tiny dragon flew down and wound around the neck of the leader. Ruanea attempted to speak to it in Draconic. The tiny dragon peered intently at her and flicked its tongue. "I get the distinct impression that should we choose to attack this little dragon, the creature would cause some trouble for us."

"If it is content to stay there without harm, leave it be." Rev used the rigging to pull herself to her feet as Bastard returned to her shoulder. She kept one hand on her bleeding side as she limped forward.

The Lizardfolk slowly stirred, then struggled hard against their restraints. Rev placed her boot against the shoulder of one, and kicked him over, then pinned him under her boot. "This is your last chance. Do you intend harm upon Saltmarsh?" she growled at him.

He flicked his tongue out at her in a suggestive manner, then grinned. She kicked him in the face then turned her back on them.

Elgoth held up a long section of rope then motioned toward the bow with a grin.

A good old-fashioned keel hauling had merit. "Not now," Rev said. "Toss them in the brig."

Her crew secured the Lizardfolk in the tiny prison as Rev climbed up to the till. Ruanea and Merantha joined her. In the distance they saw flashes of strange light in two large clouds of fog, or smoke, she couldn't tell.

"It looks like a sea battle in the distance," Merantha noted. "Do you think the navy has found the Cold Kraken?"

Ruanea stared into the distance. "It's possible."

"If the King's navy is there, then we should help them," Triton said as he joined them. "What are you waiting for?"

"Our mission was to stop the smuggling operation. That was our goal, nothing more. We are wounded, and we have an unproven crew on a new ship full of ill-gotten goods and potentially treacherous Lizardfolk." Rev looked down at her bloody hand at her side. The sea elf noticed the wound and winced.

"If it's healing you need, I believe I can be of assistance." He lifted his hands and a column of light appeared on the deck. He motioned for Rev to walk through.

As she did, the last of the pain left her body and in the glowing light, the blood dissolved from her clothes as well. She came out the other side feeling strong and whole again. Elgoth passed through the light as well. Fitzmina followed him with a huge grin on her face, but then looked disappointed when she came out the other side and remained a skull.

"Now we can fight?" Triton smiled at them.

Rev shook her head. She looked around at the others. "What say you?"

One by one they all looked toward Saltmarsh. Rev nodded. "We sail for port!" she shouted, and the crew cheered.

They came into port under the light of the stars. The lanterns on the docks in Saltmarsh shone in the darkness and glittered on the black water. It was a comforting relief to see, but then the docks looked strange. The light of hundreds of torches made the docks look ablaze as banners waved from the creaking planks. A shout broke the calm of the night, and in the distance, they heard great cheers of jubilation.

"Is that for us?" Elgoth said. He looked bewildered at the attention. Borassos smiled and waved as their crew brought them in to port.

Rev's heart swelled as she held on to the rigging and leaned over the rail. She was captain of this ship, like her mother before her, and she had brought it safely to port. It felt very _right_ to her. She doubted her mother ever received a hero's welcome, though. She doubted that her mother was ever on the right side of the law.

"I suppose we're not going to find any peace in the pub tonight," Ruanea groaned. Rev laughed and noticed the small smile that turned the haughty wizard's lips. She was looking forward to it.

"Yeeeeaaaaaahhhhh!" Bastard swung upside down from rigging, flapping his wings and bobbing his head until he became a strange green pendulum hanging from the sails.

When they reached the docks, Gellin was the first to meet them. Torchlight flickered all around him as he held out his hands and boomed over the raucous cheers. "Hail and well met, heroes of Saltmarsh! I am so glad to see that the plan we so cleverly devised has brought the smuggling scourge to an end." He emphasized the word _we_ as if he had something to do with their victory. It made Rev snort as she gave some last-minute instructions to the crew. The crowds on the docks were already gravitating toward the Salty Fish.

Elgoth strode down the gangplank, and Fitzmina flew past him and into the crowd on the dock. A scream rose up as the crowd pushed to avoid the skull, and several poor souls fell off the planks and into the drink.

When Rev came down the gangplank, Eda and Eliander were there to greet her. "You did well for a skinny dock rat," Eda said with a hearty thump on her shoulder.

Rev smiled at her, then turned serious as she faced Eliander. "As you can see, we have captured the ship. There is evidence aboard, that the smugglers were delivering weapons to Lizardfolk. They resisted our efforts to discern their intentions."

"So, they are dead?" Eliander said, keeping his military bearing rigid and formal. Rev straightened and looked him in the eye.

"Captured, my crew can show you where," Rev rested her hand on her hilt as Bastard flew back to her fist.

Eliander made a hand motion to some of his men and they immediately crossed the gangplank before anyone asked if they could board. The crew looked to her, awaiting her order. She would let the offense slide, _for now_. She nodded to her crew, and they led them into the cabins to retrieve the Lizardfolk captives.

"And who is this?" Eliander motioned to Triton. He stepped forward.

Rev wasn't sure she should be making this particular introduction. She had a feeling she would come to regret it, but she really didn't have much choice. "Eliander Fireborn, allow me to introduce Triton Waverider. Triton, Eliander, the king's man on the council. We discovered him captive on the ship. He was assigned to spy on the smugglers for the Kingdom of Manaan, in an effort to warn Keoland of trouble."

He gave her a sidelong look at her insinuation that he was a spy, but then cordially broke into a fawning diplomatic conversation with Eliander about the smuggling operation, and the hopes for formal relations between the kingdoms. Eliander had puffed up and was bragging about the efficacy of Saltmarsh's new navy. Rev sighed. Aye, that introduction would cost her later. Now she was certain of it.

"Come on, Bastard, let's get a drink." She scratched his yellow head, then followed the currents of people flowing toward the Salty Fish.

If Rev thought the party after they defeated Sanbalet was wild, this one made it seem tame by comparison. Bastard swung from the ship's wheel that served as a chandelier singing his naughty shanties, only now most of the sailors also knew the tune, and the boisterous song rang out with hearty calls to drink.

Fitzmina flew around the bar. Every time she came near Heartless, she batted Fitzmina back across the room with the bristles of her broom. As the hours passed, sailors began holding up their arms in loops and cheered every time Heartless knocked Fitzmina through a goal.

At first Elgoth ran back and forth, trying to catch his skull, but eventually joined in the game as well.

Borassos got so many slaps on the back that he had yet to take a drink from his ale, and even Merantha looked like she was having fun, now that she wasn't guarding their loot.

Triton hadn't left Eliander's side, and the two continued to talk politics, while Eda made the point to come up to each of them and congratulate them with warm sincerity on behalf of Saltmarsh.

Ruanea put her book down. She had to be drunk.

Sometime well after midnight, while the party was in full swing, and Rev was enjoying yet another ale, the doors to the Salty Fish, violently burst open.

The whole crowd stilled and turned, as in the darkened doorway a strange figure lowered her boot. Her golden eyes glowed in the darkness and water dripped from her as seaweed clung to one of her curled horns. Over her shoulder, she carried an unconscious porpoise.

"Cap'n Xendros!" the cheer was sudden and loud as every sailor in the Fish raised a glass to the fierce looking smuggler. Her tail lashed as she crossed the pub. The crowds parted for her, forming a pocket of space like a force around her. With a heave of her shoulder, she dumped the porpoise into a chair, then called for two stiff drinks from Heartless.

Heartless Copper rushed to bring the brandy. Before Xendros even touched her drink, she forced open the beak of the porpoise, and poured the brandy down the animal's throat. Her dark hair hung in wet stringy dregs as old blood stained a bandage on her arm. She downed her own drink before shouting, "Another!"

Heartless Copper was quick to comply. As Xendros poured the second round down the throat of the porpoise. The poor beast gasped through its blowhole, shuddered, flopped a bit, then suddenly transformed into a wet and exhausted looking halfling.

"Ferrin!" The second cheer went up, and Ferrin leaned back in his chair, motioning to Heartless for a third round and some food. Rev was both relieved and surprised to see the man as Xendros slapped him on the back.

"What happened?" Rev asked. "How did you escape?"

The entire pub fell still as everyone pushed closer to try to hear Xendros' story. "I allowed the goblin scum to take me. I have been after something on the goblin ship for a while, and the only way to get it was to get close. I knew Ferrin would come for me. I did not expect to get shot on the way." Her eyes flared, and Elgoth stepped back, melting into the crowd. "The Cold Kraken came upon a small merchant ship and attacked. I used the distraction to free myself. When I saw a beautiful, sleek body leaping over the waves in the dying light of the battle I knew I had my chance. I leapt overboard and held on to Ferrin's fluke. We swam the whole way back."

"This merchant ship," Anders said, pulling away from a pretty girl. "What was it? Was it one of ours?"

"It was the Northwind," Xendros said.

Rev dropped her tankard. Ruanea gasped, and the party quickly converged closer to Xendros. "Is there any word of the captains, Milo and Callie?" Rev asked.

Xendros' gaze softened. She shook her head. "I jumped ship. I don't know anything more. I'm sorry."

Her words doused the good cheer in the pub with somber reality. Slowly people began to filter out of the pub as their small crew centered around a single table. Triton joined them. "Who are these people, Milo and Callie?"

"They owned the Northwind. We all met upon their ship," Ruanea explained.

"I owe them a great debt," Elgoth muttered.

"The battle we saw, that was the Kraken," Rev stated. She slammed her fist on the table. "We should have gone to fight. We could have helped them."

"And lost our ship in the process," Merantha reminded her. "There's nothing we can do for them right now. Perhaps it is best if we get some rest."

The next morning, there was a new buzz in town. It was far less jubilant than the celebration the night before. A large warship badly damaged had been beached near the old house, and the navy were staging repairs through the Smuggler's Hole. It seemed Saltmarsh's _navy_ was out of commission. While the sight didn't ease her feelings of guilt, the Sea Ghost would have been sorely outmatched in a fight with the Kraken for the Northwind. The rumor around town was that the Cold Kraken had taken significant damage as well, but Rev couldn't sort what was an accurate account of the battle, and what was sailor's stories.

The Aileander had managed to tow a poor ship back to port before they beached her. The shattered Northwind floated in the dock next to the Sea Ghost. Her mast had been snapped in half. It made Rev feel sick to her stomach in a more visceral way than the Shark Fin Bridge.

That afternoon they marched straight into the council meeting. Rev banged open the doors with her friends flanking her. Triton followed after them murmuring apologies at their rudeness.

Instead of the formalities of the town meeting, four of the council members hunched over a small table while Eliander spoke with a man in a naval uniform behind them. Everyone looked up as they entered.

"Ah, Miss Blackwind, and the heroes of Saltmarsh. Welcome," Eliander said. "Captain Simpson of the Aileander here was just filling me in on the terrible details of the harrowing battle with the Cold Kraken. It seems the goblin captain has eluded us."

"That's Captain Blackwind," Rev stated. "We did what you bade us and eliminated the smuggling threat. We've come for our reward."

"Indeed," Eliander stated coming forward, but looking a bit stiff, as if he were bracing himself. "And what a marvelous deed you have performed for Saltmarsh. As it turns out, the Lizardfolk you captured were indeed preparing for an invasion. You may have prevented a grave disaster. That knowledge alone should make you feel proud of your duty to your community."

Rev almost snorted at the word _duty._

"You were promised four hundred gold, and you now have three fifths of the interest in the old Halborn estate. However, the navy has found this property to be highly useful and believes it would be in the best interest of the city to transform it into a naval outpost."

Rev actually laughed, and Bastard laughed with her. "I'm not giving you my property."

"But what use is it to you? It is too much for you to repair." Eliander kept the table between him and Rev, though he placed a hand on the back of Gellin's seat. Eda kept a wary watch on her. Manistrad just looked bored.

"That's for me to decide. A place to anchor my ship might prove useful," Rev answered.

"_Your ship?_" Eliander moved around the table as Captain Simpson backed away. "You captured a valuable asset for Keoland's Royal Navy, and on behalf of the king, we are all very grateful. The Sea Ghost is a fine caravel and will make a splendid addition."

"Now wait just one minute!" Merantha objected.

Rev liked having allies, but Eliander was very close to becoming an enemy. She knew now she would not keep him to his word from this point on. He was the type to use her to his own ends and she didn't trust him.

Gellin must have felt the tension in the room because he rose from his chair. "Now, now, I knew that there might be some resistance to this proposal. After all, the Sea Ghost was hard won, and an ambitious young captain, like young Rev here, would naturally take offense." He made a show of hoisting up his belt around his ample belly. "But this is a simple matter, I say. If you, Young Halborn, might relinquish your rights to the family estate, then perhaps it would be in the interest of the council to allow you to keep the ship that came in last night." His voice trailed up at the end, as if he were half-asking a question.

Rev refused to answer. In truth she was too angry to speak.

"Now I see," Gellin continued, "that it might be difficult to let go of the family legacy, but might I suggest we set aside a portion of the caves as a museum of sorts to the history of smuggling in Saltmarsh? Captain Xendros could be the curator!"

Rev saw through his ploy. He fully intended to keep smuggling through the house to line his own pockets.

That's when Eda rose. She came forward and took Rev aside. "Don't cling to the property out of a nostalgia for a past that didn't exist," she advised. "For your parents, the house has only been a business venture and nothing more."

Yes, but if she owned a ship, she would need a dock, and smuggling was clearly lucrative. She had to admit that there was a small part of her that liked the idea of establishing herself on land, in a house that was safe, where she wouldn't face death again. But then she thought of seeing her flag, flying like a promise from the mast of the Sea Ghost. She knew where her heart belonged. Besides, it would take a ship, not a house to rescue Milo and Callie.

She glanced at the others, and they all nodded, except for Elgoth who was clearly mouthing, "_take the ship!"_

"Fine," Rev said. "I relinquish my shares of the Halborn property in exchange for my ship."

Gellin beamed. "Then congratulations my dear! You are now the captain of the Northwind!"

**Commentary: This episode gave us the first indication that our DM has a little bit of a sadistic streak. He very much enjoys pulling the rug out. This is, by far, not the only time he played this sort of game with us. He is also very interested in the idea that though the party makes one decision, and decides to turn right instead of left, the world continues on, and whatever is happening to the left should play out in time, with or without the players. The kidnapping of Milo and Callie was a gut punch, and we left this session clearly determined to get them back. This was also our first introduction to Triton. Our DM brought in a friend from another game because we were unsure if Merantha wanted to continue playing, and this player had played with both the DM and Elgoth's player before. Triton's player came in to a ready-made character that was supposed to be an NPC. He didn't have much ability to shape the character himself, but he has the most gorgeous British accent, and like Elgoth's player, he was used to role playing. His accent alone seemed to shape Triton into a very formal and proper hero. Triton and Elgoth's players together are so much fun to play with, and have had us rolling in laughter for weeks. Triton is a very welcome edition, and I would love to play with his player again.**


	9. Chapter 9

Dungeons & Dragons/Saltmarsh

Episode 9

Her companions exploded in protest behind her, and Fitzmina flew straight for Gellin's head. He squealed as he ducked under the table.

Rev just crossed her arms. "I agreed to the ship that came in last night. The Northwind came into port this morning. The Sea Ghost is ours."

Shaking Gellin slowly peeked from behind the table as Fitzmina floated ominously in front of him. "Yes, well," he sniveled from his crouched position. "As I said, you are an ambitious young captain, and you do make a fair point. The Sea Ghost is yours."

Eliander gave a side-long look at Fitzmina, raised one eyebrow, and strode around the table. "Now that you have a ship, the Royal Navy could use a strong new captain as one of its officers."

"Not a chance, Fireborn." Rev turned to leave.

Eda caught her. She had a strange expression on her face, something Rev wanted to think was pride. "I hope that you will not cut ties with Saltmarsh and the council entirely."

Rev considered her words as she looked at her friends. Saltmarsh had been good to them so far. "If the council has need, we will listen. But we will do it in secret, and in good faith to our benefit. We have no desire to play as someone else's puppet on a string."

Eda smiled. "Go, then, Captain Blackwind." She patted Rev hard on the back. "See to your ship."

The party split up through town while Rev made sure the ship had adequate provisions for the next six months. As she drifted through the shops in the harbor, she asked about the Cold Kraken, and where the goblin ship might have retreated if it needed repairs. She kept hearing the same answer. "The pirate princes."

Apparently One-Eye was working for one of them, but which one, nobody knew. After buying a new leather coat that would better protect her, she was surprised to see Heartless Copper out on the docks.

She was standing at the edge of a pier, staring out at the water in silence, her arms hugged across her chest. Rev greeted her, but she didn't respond. The sea breeze teased Heartless' long red hair, pulling it toward the sea. Rev walked over to the other woman, still staring at a point far on the horizon.

"HI!" Bastard shouted. Heartless jumped, her eyes were shining, and she blinked them quickly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." Swiping a quick hand under her eyes, she gave Rev a sad smile. "It's time I returned to the Salty Fish."

"Is there someone out there? Someone you're waiting to see home?" Rev asked, peering at the line where the dark sea met the open sky.

"Don't be ridiculous," Heartless said as she picked up a sack of goods and walked down the pier.

Back at the Salty Fish, she found the others huddled around Triton as he released a small fish into the water. The silvery fish darted away. Rev watched it go as Triton wiped his hands. He too had bought some leather armor that did not rattle as much as his former breastplate. "The fish is carrying news to my king," he explained. "So, what is our next mission?"

"Our?" Rev asked. "I don't believe you are a part of this crew."

He looked up, shocked. "But I could be a valuable asset to you, in strength, and healing."

Rev tilted her head to peer at him from under the brim of her hat. "That depends on if you are loyal to us or spying on us for Fireborn's purposes."

Triton kept his gaze steady. "I am loyal to _my_ king, aside from that, anything can be negotiated."

"Besides," Merantha stated. "He gave up a portion of his treasure to help pay the crew and provision the ship. It's only fair that we keep him on."

Rev couldn't argue her point. "Very well," she said. "Welcome aboard the Sea Ghost," she said, though she remained wary. As she walked into the pub, Bastard turned around on her shoulder to keep an eye on the sea elf.

Inside the pub, they were surprised to see Eda, Eliander, and Anders sitting at a private table in the small nook deep in the corner. Anders motioned to them, and they all wandered back.

"What news?" Borassos asked.

Eliander was the one who spoke in hushed tones. "We have not been able to get more information from the Lizardfolk prisoners." He placed a hand on the table. "Their mention of an invasion concerns us."

Anders looked especially nervous. Eda was the one who spoke. "The council has a favor to ask of you, though the city coffers are getting low, we will give you a reward."

"What favor do you wish of us?" Elgoth asked, sounding vaguely threatening.

"You found a map aboard the Sea Ghost. We wish for you to find the Lizardfolk encampment and discover more about their plans for an invasion."

"This is a very dangerous task, one that requires a great deal of stealth and delicacy," Rev stated.

"Which is why the Royal Navy should not be involved," Eliander stated, "but now I see the utility of having a crew such as yours in the good graces of the council. We will make it worth your while."

Rev glanced at the others. They seemed eager for a new task, but one thing was weighing heavily on her mind. "We will do it for free harbor. So long as I am captain, we will pay no dockage fees to Saltmarsh, ever." They would have to pay ten gold each day they had their ship in port otherwise. It was a pain of a tax that she would rather not deal with, and it would allow them to stay at the inn for a stretch instead of the cramped cabins aboard the Ghost without draining their coffers.

"That is a very good deal for both parties. The council agrees to your terms. Return to us when you have more useful information about what the Lizardfolk's intentions are." The council members rose. Eliander shook their hands, while Eda gave them a firm nod. "Good luck to you."

This left them all in the dark corner of the pub. One by one they sat down. Rev pulled out the map from her magic bag and spread it out on the table. "So, how do we go about this without getting ourselves killed? I know one thing for sure, we can't let the Lizardfolk know that we were the ones to capture their comrades and intercept their weapons. Perhaps we can convince them that Old One-Eye took their men."

"Our best course of action is to sneak in undetected, learn what we can, and get back out quickly." Elgoth peered at the map.

"I concur," Triton said. "And the faster the better."

Rev pointed to the map. "If we sail to this estuary and anchor the Sea Ghost here," she tapped her finger at the mouth of a river, "We can take the jolly boat up the river to this trail that leads to the encampment."

"This is a good plan," Triton nodded. "We will see it done."

"Then we sail in the morning."

The Sea Ghost reached the mouth of the river without incident. After giving the crew instructions to protect the anchored ship, they lowered the jolly boat. "If you see Fitzmina, we're in trouble. Sail back to Saltmarsh for help."

"Aye, Captain," Whale said as he helped with the ropes and the boat lowered into the water with a splash. They put their backs to the oars, and made way up the swampy river. Great cypress trees waded their spindly roots into the black waters of the slow and brackish river. Pale green moss hung from their branches until tendrils floated on the surface of the swamp. Every so often, they caught a glimpse of reptilian eyes blinking above the black, or the unmistakable shift of ripples in the surface of the waters that meant a large beast was moving beneath.

Swarms of mosquitoes homed in on them, and they slapped at the stinging insects between pulls of the oars. On the banks a pure white egret stabbed at fat frogs with his long yellow beak, until a crocodile lunged out of the water and dragged the bird beneath the dark water. It's feathers still floated on the surface as the water settled to black glass once more.

"This is an unforgiving place," Elgoth said as they turned and rowed the boat toward an outcropping of a beach that looked like the one on the map. They would have to pull it up quickly, before a crocodile decided to drag them under the water as well.

They made quick work of landing the boat and securing it with the rope. No one wanted to stay near the edge of the water, lest they end up like the egret. The grasses on the far end of the beach grew on the edges of a marsh similar to the one they had crossed to find the harpy. Once again, they found a solid path, though this one seemed a little more clearly tread than the last.

"Fitzmina, watch for trouble," Elgoth commanded and sent the skull flying high into the sky. She peered around, and not to be outdone, Bastard flew off Rev's shoulder and circled a few feet higher than her, driving Fitzmina higher still.

"Bastard, get back here!" Her bird could do many things, but none of them were useful. The skull's psychic connection to Elgoth did make her a helpful scout. They hiked uneventfully down the trail until they came to a fork in the road. The map indicated that they should go right, but when Fitzmina flew that direction, she turned back and shook her skull from side to side in a clear signal to all of them, that continuing that way was a very bad idea.

They cautiously crept down the path when Triton spotted the problem. "Four Bullywugs, setting up an ambush." He grimaced. "Foul and prideful creatures. They could be a problem."

Elgoth smiled as he drew his cutlass. "I don't think this is a problem at all."

"Very well," Triton said as he flashed his hand toward the frogmen. One of them started glowing with a yellow light intense enough to illuminate the bog around him. This caught the Frogs by surprise. They let out bellowing croaks.

Rev stood up. "Hey tadpole!" she shouted. "Put that tail between your legs and run!" Then she swung her magic cloak over her shoulders and disappeared into the reeds.

The Bullywug grabbed his spear and hopped straight toward where Rev was standing, but only found Elgoth in the long grasses. He stabbed at Elgoth instead, but Elgoth twisted out of his way, so the Bullywug bit him with his wide toothless mouth.

Ruanea, Borassos, and Merantha all exploded out of the reeds firing off their magic spells.

Elgoth pulled his shoulder out of the mouth of the Bullywug with a disgusted look on his face. "That coat is new," he complained as he swiped mucus off of it, then lit his sword on fire and hit the glowing Bullywug. He glowed even brighter under the torment of Elgoth's flame, then the fire jumped over to the one that had bitten him.

Triton shot a modified crossbow that released a small harpoon as Rev jumped out of the reeds and stabbed the Bullywug she had insulted. He let out a pitiful croak as he fell to the ground. "I told you. You should have run, hopped, whatever."

One of the Bullywugs burst into flames as Borassos prayed. He jumped into a small pond. Triton heard the splash and turned, only to have a frogman bite him on the leg. Fitzmina divebombed the frogmen, spilling clouds of green smoke through the air. Ruanea blasted ice, and the one that had crawled out of the pond froze solid, his buggy eyes turning glassy as the ice formed over him.

Both Elgoth and Rev ran up to the final Bullywug chewing on Triton's leg. Rev stabbed it in the eye, and it let go, its tongue lolling out of its mouth.

Borassos searched the bodies. "There's nothing on them. No food, no packs. There must be a camp nearby."

"Then we must travel carefully," Triton wove a strange sort of magic, and the air around them turned misty and full of strange shadows. "This will keep us concealed."

Merantha looked skeptical while Ruanea studied the mist around them. But as promised, they passed down the rest of the trail without incident. The path rose out of the marshes and onto a rocky shoreline with a large craggy butte rising to their right. They could hear the sea birds and smell the salt on the wind as the path led up to a rocky alcove in the cliffs. Ruanea spotted strange tracks in the sand. She tucked her dark hair behind her pointed ear as she examined them. Triton came up next to her. "They are not Bullywugs. These look reptilian." He followed the tracks up to a flat spot in the cliff behind a cluster of shrubs. "There's a door."

He cautiously pushed it, and the door opened silently. He looked back at the others, and the rest of the party crept forward to peer into the darkness. Inside was a maze of tunnels lit at the intersections with torches. Rev pulled out the map. She could make out important rooms like the throne room, and a temple of some sort, but the Lizardfolk encampment was a maze.

The others gathered around to debate which way they should turn. No one wanted to go close to the throne room, but they did not know what was in the rooms to their right. Elgoth quietly tucked Fitzmina back into her pouch. Rev was tempted to do the same to Bastard but doubted he would be able to survive for long in her sack.

As they hunched over the map, they heard a loud hiss. When they looked up, they found themselves surrounded by half a dozen Lizardfolk carrying spears.

Ruanea immediately lifted her hands in the air. She started speaking in the dragon tongue. The guards answered her, looking wary, but they had not yet attacked. They pressed together as a group as a large Lizard guard with more feathers and adornment on his clothing came forward. "What is news you carry?" He asked in broken common.

"Your kinsmen have been captured, and the weapons shipment that was due to you has been confiscated," Ruanea said, still keeping her hands up.

"This the queen should know," the head of the guard said, scratching one claw on his scaly chin. "Keep your weapons covered. Follow."

He led them through the tunnels, with the other guards following behind. One's spear kept poking Rev in the back, and Bastard tried to climb onto it and use it as a perch each time it did. This annoyed the guard enough that he kept back a pace, but Rev could feel Bastard clinging to her coat as he reached for it anyway. As they travelled into the heart of the Lizardfolk enclave, it looked more and more difficult to find a way out. The head guard opened a set of rough doors to a spacious room burning with torchlight.

A simple wooden throne sat on a raised stone platform at the far end. Stone columns formed a corridor down the center of the chamber. As they entered, two young hatchlings halted a game they had been playing with a pebble on the floor and scrambled behind one of the pillars. There was little adornment in the chamber, save the severed heads of creatures hanging on the walls and columns. A handful of types of sharks, a bear, a hippo, clearly these Lizardfolk commemorated the deaths of dangerous creatures. There were no humans or elves hanging on the walls, yet. One of the heads forced Triton to stop in his tracks.

"That, that cannot be," he said breaking from the group to get a closer look at the scaly blue-green head mounted on the wall. It looked like a fair mix of the frog-like Bullywugs, and the Lizardfolk. It had scaly skin and sharp, shark-like teeth framed by fish fins around its face. "They are gone from this world. Our people destroyed them hundreds of years ago in the great war. How long has this been here?" he demanded.

Rev got nervous. They were in no position at the moment to be making demands. It was tantamount to kicking a hornet's nest.

The guard looked at the head. "I killed that one last week. Hard fight. Deep wounds."

"What is it?" Elgoth asked looking at the strange fish-man hanging lifeless on the wall. Bastard flew off her shoulder and landed on top of it, turning his head upside down to stare into the monster's glassy eyes.

"It's a Sahaugin, the sworn enemy of my people." Triton's entire demeanor changed. He looked agitated, and fearful, but it wasn't because of the presence of the Lizardfolk anymore. "If the Sahaugin have returned to this world, we are all in grave danger."

"You touch her," a squeaky little voice called from behind the pillar. Rev forgot for a moment about the hatchlings, but now found herself staring at the little ones. They were cute, for reptiles. They blinked large round eyes as they darted quickly out of sight.

"No you, touch her. I dare you!"

Both hatchlings giggled and one reached out to bat at one of Merantha's baubles. She bared her teeth and growled at the little Lizard. Both of them fell into fits of giggles and ran behind Ruanea.

Rev was disturbed by the presence of the little ones. On one hand, she hoped the Lizardfolk were not spoiling for a battle since their hatchlings were playing nearby. On the other hand, she wanted no part in involving children in a fight to the death. She had been in too many battles as a child, and those scars ran deep. She would try to protect the little ones if she had to, but she did not want a fight, not like this. Hopefully it would not come to that.

A door at the far end of the room opened, and a proud looking Lizardwoman with a crown of beautiful feathers approached. She wore a long silvery dress like the mists on the dark water, and a calm stillness radiated from her, as if she were basking in her own power. She was flanked by two other Lizardfolk, both older and clearly a part of her court. One looked like a personal guard. The other held a staff and wore robes that looked religious in nature.

"You say you bring us information," the queen stated in blunt, but well-spoken common. "I know the ways of humans and elves. You are soft creatures, no scales, no sense of natural survival. We are a straightforward people. Do not lie to us. We will know."

Rev's mind worked furiously. She would have to offer them enough information to believe they had harmless intentions toward the Lizardfolk, while not revealing their part in the capture of their kinsmen, all while only speaking truthful statements. This would not be easy. Though in all fairness, all of this could have been avoided if the Lizardfolk had been forthright with her on the ship, instead of attempting to steal her jolly boat.

Let the game begin. "We witnessed the capture of the ship that was delivering your weapons. Your kinsmen are alive, but being held captive," Rev stated, holding her head high and maintaining eye contact with the queen. Rev heard a giggle and forced a glance back toward Ruanea. Both the hatchlings were hopping around behind her skirt, playing with her ghostly magic hand as it swooped behind them, tapping their shoulders, or tugging their tails.

"Where are they?" the queen asked, she too kept a sharp eye on the young ones.

Rev didn't want the Lizardfolk to attack Saltmarsh. "They are being held by guards."

The queen twitched her head, and a new group of Lizard warriors entered the room.

"Who attacked this ship?" she asked.

"Those seeking to break up an illegal smuggling ring." Rev tensed as more armed Lizards entered the room. The little ones hid behind Ruanea's skirts. The Lizardfolk held their pikes and glared at the strangers. Rev and the others were greatly outnumbered now and trapped in the room. The odds of getting out alive were growing thinner by the moment.

"Honored Queen," Triton interjected. "Might I interrupt for a moment to extend good will from King Neptune of Manaan. It has come to my attention that your people have recently killed a Sahaugin, and this news greatly distresses me. If you are an enemy of the Sahaugin, then my King would gladly give you aid in a fight against them."

The queen turned her attention to the sea elf. "Yes, these Sahaugin as you call them. They are a great problem. We will speak of it later." She turned back to Rev. "I am less interested in what you are saying than what you are _not_ saying. Who is holding my kinsmen?"

"Guards from Keoland," Rev admitted, still trying to deflect anger from Saltmarsh. "They are concerned about invasion of their lands."

"They should be," the queen said. "And are you a part of this Keoland?"

The queen's eyes flashed, and Rev knew that the entire gamble would rest on her next words. "We want nothing to do with Keoland," Rev said, and she let some of her resentment at Fireborn and the intrusion of Keoland on the whims of Saltmarsh to color her voice as she spoke. "And we do not wish harm upon your people, if your people do not wish harm upon ours. We only wish to prevent bloodshed if we can."

Rev held very still. She did not rest her hands on her hilts, as was her habit. Bastard flew down to her shoulder and tucked himself against her neck. The queen considered her with large unblinking eyes. A flap of scaly skin beneath her neck twitched, then she spoke. "Clear the room. I wish to speak in private."

The priest-like one objected, but the queen held up her hand. Slowly the guards filed back out of the room, and the queen's other advisor ushered the little ones away. Only the head of the guard remained as the priest gave them one last wary look over his shoulder. "I do not like this," he said as he too, disappeared from view.

"I am willing to trust you," she said pointing to Triton, "but I do not fully trust you. You are still hiding something from me, but if what you say is true, that you wish us no ill-will, I will allow you to prove it."

Rev let out a breath as she felt the others in the party drop their tension as well.

"I have a problem that you could help me with," the queen stated. She glanced around at the heads on the walls. "We are fearsome fighters, but there is one creature that we cannot hunt, the crocodile. Crocodiles are of deep religious significance to us, and killing one is forbidden."

Sure enough, not a single crocodile had been mounted on the wall. "Unfortunately, crocodiles are animals like any other, and they do not spare us when they are hungry. Normally it is not a problem. We know how to safely navigate these swamps without disturbing most of the crocodiles, but there is one, a giant beast, and he has discovered a liking for our flesh. He has eaten several of my people including hatchlings." Her voice broke, but she regained her composure. "I cannot allow this situation to continue, but I cannot order one of my kind to hunt a creature we consider holy." She peered at each of them. "I trust you have no moral objections to hunting a crocodile?"

"Will killing this creature upset your people?" Triton asked. "Do they see it as a god?"

"No," the queen responded. "We obey the laws of the natural world. Things hunt, things are hunted. If a Lizardfolk killed this creature, my people would be angry for the broken vow, but not if it dies at the hands of another kind that does not follow our ways."

"I see," Rev said. "If this is what you wish of us, we will see it done."

"Very well. Bring me the tail of this creature, and we will resume our discussion in trust and good faith. Goodbye, until your task is done."

The head guard led them out the door. Once they were in the torchlit hallways again, Elgoth mumbled. "That went well. We are not dead."

Rev couldn't shake the feeling that they had come very close. They still needed to battle a giant crocodile. The guard led them through the barracks where several Lizardfolk were drilling with weapons identical to the ones that had been aboard the ship. They were training, and by the look of their fighting, they would make formidable foes. Yet they had heard no news about Lizardfolk attacking people in Saltmarsh or Keoland. What if the invasion the prisoners spoke of was not an invasion that they were planning, but an invasion that they expected to come? They insisted that they were trying to defend themselves when Rev questioned them aboard the ship.

She suspected the invasion that they were preparing for, was of something far more deadly. She glanced at Triton as he looked at the giant lizards saddled in the stables. If the Lizardfolk were preparing for an invasion of Sahaugin, then all of Saltmarsh was in danger. For as prickly as the Lizardfolk were, they had never instigated an attack once, and seemed reasonable, if difficult. Rev had a hard time believing that they would attack against the port town if Saltmarsh wasn't threatening them.

They passed by a marshy underground dock of sorts, then left through a door much like the one they had entered. When they stepped outside, they recognized the backside of the mountain, and the swamps leading down to the river. Their jolly boat was ahead.

Triton cast his cloak of shadows over them again, and they passed down the first part of the trail without incident. Elgoth let Fitzmina back out of her sack, and she peered ahead on the trail. When they came to the familiar Y in the path, they began to relax. The sun was setting, and the light faded with each passing moment even as it glittered like fire on the waters around them.

"Should we hunt this crocodile at night, or wait for the light of morning?" Borassos asked.

"Crocodiles are more active at night. We would have a better chance of luring him while he's hunting," she said. Though it would be more difficult for Borassos and Merantha with their limited vision in the dark.

"But if we hunt him during the day, we could catch him basking," Merantha offered.

"And a rest would do us well," Elgoth said.

"Then we should make camp where we tied the jolly boat and take it down the river to find the crocodile in the morning," Rev said. "Be careful and pass quietly. We still have a good distance to go down the trail, and we do not know what else dwells within this swamp."

Borassos and Merantha put a hand to their shoulders, and Rev led them down the path with Triton behind, and Elgoth in the rear with Ruanea.

They crept quietly along the trail until Elgoth raised his voice. "You do not know what you are talking about!"

"You cannot argue that Nolzur's theories have a broader scope than the studies of Mordenkainen. His research was rudimentary at best," Ruanea raised her voice as well, and the rest of the party stopped to hush them, but they were too far into their argument to stop.

"It's a well known fact that Keoghtom borrowed one of Nolzur's formulas. That is hardly rudimentary." Elgoth crossed his arms.

"It's like you've only read a single book in the last twenty years." Ruanea did not hold back any punches.

"IT WAS A VERY GOOD BOOK!"

"Quiet!" Triton snapped. "Listen."

They stilled and heard a deep grunting in the brush up ahead. The stench of sweat and rotting blood reached them. Triton craned his neck. "It's an ogre, crouched behind the rock."

Ruanea threw out her webs, and the ogre reared up, but couldn't struggle free of them. The entire party unleashed a flurry of attacks, and while the ogre struggled, Ruanea's webs held tight. After an onslaught of magical blasts, fire, missiles, and arrows rained down on the ogre, he finally slumped over dead.

Ruanea continued on as if nothing had happened. "Now if we are speaking about pure preparation, we should be speaking about Leomund."

Borassos walked over and poked the Ogre's dead body. "That almost didn't seem sporting," he said.

"Let's not borrow trouble." Rev stepped off the path and found the Ogre's camp. A large ham was roasting over the fire. She picked it up. At least they would eat well tonight. "There will be plenty of trouble on the morrow."

And with that they settled down near the jolly boat for the night. Triton stood on the banks of the river and stared down the wide path of dark water toward the sea beyond. "Trouble is coming," he warned.

**Commentary: This is the week we almost died. We were in so much trouble, it was ridiculous. First of all, we managed to walk straight up to the front door, not ever the best move in this game. Then we sat there in the front door bickering about what to do next. That was not exactly our stealthiest moment. That left us on our heels to negotiate with the Lizard Queen. We were so gravely outnumbered that we only had one way out. We had to talk our way out. I was very grateful for Rev's powers of persuasion that day. We also clearly leveled up from when we began. The ogre fight really wasn't fair for the poor ogre. Borassos' player felt bad for the poor guy.**


	10. Chapter 10

Dungeons & Dragons/Saltmarsh

Episode 10

Borassos made a small fire to ward off the insects and animals and Merantha invited Triton to join them.

"You know," Rev said as she sat on the sand. "There's nothing stopping us from going back to Saltmarsh right now."

Triton gave her a skeptical look, while Elgoth had an argument with Fitzmina. Ruanea seemed to consider it.

"If we leave now," Triton said. "We lose the opportunity to have the Lizardfolk as allies against this Sahuagin threat."

"So, you believe they are preparing to fight the Sahuagin, not invade Saltmarsh?" Merantha asked as she braided her long dark hair. Rev listened carefully while she stroked Bastard's wings. Clearly, she was not the only one of their party thinking the same thing.

"I didn't see any human heads on the wall," Ruanea said. "Or elf, and they never once tried to attack us. They trusted us near their young."

"Well, we were greatly outnumbered at the time," Borassos said. "But I agree. They did not seem like they attack things that do not attack them."

"And we didn't hear any rumors of Lizardfolk raids or attacks back in Saltmarsh. We listened to every other sort of complaint and gossip, but trouble with the Lizardfolk never came up once." Rev leaned back on her elbows as Bastard fell asleep on her knee. "We'll find the crocodile in the morning, then see what they have to say." Rev tipped her hat over her face. "I'm getting some sleep while I can."

"Sleep is for lesser beings," Elgoth stated. "I will take watch."

"You don't know what you're missing," Rev said from under her hat.

"I'll join you on the watch," Triton said as he met Elgoth closer to the edge of the river where the jolly boat bobbed in the black water.

Rev drifted off to sleep, listening to the lapping water and the comforting pop and hiss of the fire. It felt like no time passed at all, and she hadn't reached a point of dreaming.

"Wake! Wake! It's an attack!"

Rev bolted upright as Bastard squawked and fell to the sand next to her hat. She immediately drew her rapier, even though it took a moment to remember where she was. The first thing she saw was Elgoth sprawled out on the sandy beach.

Then she heard a low rumble and a loud hiss that did not come from the campfire. It took her a moment to comprehend that the enormous dark form on the beach was a crocodile, at least twenty feet long with a shining black hide. It opened its monstrous jaws, and the firelight glimmered off a thousand sharp and bony teeth.

Rev bolted forward and stabbed the beast under his leg where his scales were pale and not quite as tough, then she ran back toward the fire. Fitzmina flew in swooping circles around the beach, but Bastard seemed to have some sense, and tucked himself underneath Rev's hat.

Ruanea stood in front of the fire, and at first Rev thought the fire was raging out of control, but then she realized it was Ruanea. Flames swept up her body before they burst from her in three terrible scorching blasts that hit the foul beast. Water hissed off his scaly hide as the smell of burnt flesh filled the air.

The crocodile let out a guttural rumble of pain, then hissed and whipped his head around to grab Triton by the thigh. Triton screamed as the crocodile swung his head. He broke free of the terrible bite and dragged himself across the sand as his blood soaked into it.

"No you don't," Merantha shouted, pushing her hands together. They glowed in the darkness before the blast erupted from her hands and knocked the crocodile back toward the river.

Elgoth stood and with a cocky grin lit his blade with crackling charges of lightning. "Taste this," he hissed stepping through the green fog of Fitzmina's cloudy smoke. Elgoth shouted as he swung his cutlass in a ruthless arc and hit the croc on the neck.

The beast lunged and bit Elgoth across the middle of his body, knocking the elf off his feet. He shook Elgoth like a ragdoll, then chomped on him again.

Rev leapt forward and stabbed the beast in the eye. It roared at her, letting go of Elgoth as it chased her up the beach.

Elgoth called out, "Don't worry about me. Kill him!" Then he slumped onto the sand.

Rev watched him collapse, but then jumped just in time, as the monster swung his spiked tail in a whipping arc toward her. She cartwheeled over the tail, landing on her feet, but she couldn't avoid the crocodile's jaws as he snapped at her leg. He caught her, and the crushing pain of the crocodile's jaws blunted out the piercing agony of his teeth.

Merantha released another powerful blast and the crocodile let go of her, flopping lifeless onto the sand.

Ruanea ran to Elgoth, reaching for her bags as Borassos and Merantha tended to Triton. She pulled out various herbs and bandages and managed to staunch his bleeding, but he still lay lifeless on the sand.

"No," Rev said as she limped over next to him. She placed a hand on his chest, feeling the raised edges of his scars beneath her palm. He had suffered a lot in his past. She wasn't sure how much of that suffering he had willingly chosen, but she was certain he would not want to die from a crocodile bite. She couldn't feel his heartbeat, but his skin felt warm. She leaned over and sang to him in a quiet voice, knowing that he wouldn't appreciate it, but she did it anyway. Her own crushing pain in her leg didn't matter.

Her hand rose with his sharp intake of breath and his moonlit eyes opened.

He immediately sprang to his feet, knocking her back and grabbing for his sword. With a ferocious shout, he cried. "Out of my way, short-tips. Where is the beast?"

Ruanea tucked her medicines back in her bag. "You are an idiot."

Rev fisted her hands in the gritty sand, tempted to throw it at him. Instead she turned to her bird, who poked his yellow face out from beneath her hat. She pushed herself up and limped over to him, then worked on bandaging her leg. They wouldn't get much sleep for the rest of the night, and considering her mood, that was probably for the best.

"Remind me not to kill him in his sleep," she mumbled to her bird.

"Maroon the scum," he answered, and she chuckled as she watched Merantha struggle to skin the crocodile's tough hide.

By the time Rev had patched up her own wounds and Triton could stand again, dawn was breaking over the swampy marshes. Merantha had managed to hack off a few mangled pieces of crocodile skin, and Borassos chopped off the monster's tail. He heaved it up onto his shoulder, and it looked like he was carrying the full body of a normal sized crocodile.

"We should go before the buzzards find this," Elgoth said, and they started back up the path that they had hiked down the night before. The trail reeked as they passed the dead ogre. Several vultures stood on the corpse with their wings spread out to absorb the heat of the newly rising sun.

"I still feel a bit bad about that," Borassos said as he adjusted the weight of the crocodile tail on his shoulder.

"Better him than us," Rev commented as she pressed a hand to her wounded thigh.

They passed the Y in the trail and took the shorter path up to the right that would lead them back to the Lizardfolk barracks and stables. They didn't get too far down the path before they heard a commotion up ahead. Croaking voices argued with one another.

Elgoth pulled Fitzmina out of his sack and threw her up into the air. "Go see what it is, and be sneaky about it," he commanded the skull. She nodded, then flew ahead.

The wild elf's eyes turned white and stared blankly ahead, as if he were listening very intently to the smallest of sounds. "Bullywugs," he said. "At least six, with two more large guards, and one riding on the back of an enormous toad. They seem to be lost."

"Well, it looks like we found the friends of the ones we killed yesterday," Ruanea commented.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I am in no mood to fight right now," Rev said, yanking on the bandage on her thigh.

"We could try to sneak past them." Merantha leaned on her staff.

"We should turn back, and go down the other trail," Triton suggested. "We already killed the Bullywugs down that way."

"This is a good plan," Elgoth said as he made a motion with his hand. They turned back around the way they came and hiked back toward the marshes, so they could take the other path up to the Lizardfolk's main entrance. Triton took the lead with Merantha and Ruanea following silently, and Borassos struggling under the weight of the tail.

Rev followed after him, and they crept away from the Bullywugs without trouble until Fitzmina came flying back and barreled right into Bastard. He squawked and fell forward, hanging from his feet, tightly clinging to the strap of leather crossing Rev's shoulder. He squawked again and flapped his wings, whacking Rev in the face as she had to wrestle with her bird. She clamped her hand down on his beak to try to keep him quiet, but it only made the angry ball of green feathers worse. Once he was upright, he flew straight for Fitzmina, and Elgoth had to duck them both.

As they swooped back down, Elgoth jumped to grab Fitzmina out of the air and shoved her back in her sack. Bastard crashed into Rev, and she threatened to do the same.

"Will you two be quiet," Ruanea scolded.

"You're a fine one to talk after your book debate last night," Rev answered back as they reached the Y. They took the other trail, and thankfully didn't have any more surprises. When they reached the Lizardfolk lair, the guard standing in the doorway looked disappointed. "You, humans. Give up too quickly," he said.

Borassos stepped forward and heaved the enormous tail onto the sand. It landed with a heavy thud as the Lizard's eyes flew wide.

"You killed it?" He looked back up, and even though it was very difficult to read expression in his reptilian face, there was no mistaking the shock and relief in his voice. "Queen must know this. Follow me."

He led them back through the Lizardfolk tunnels, but this time Rev worried far less for their probability of walking out alive. When they came to the chamber, the two hatchlings were playing tag around the throne.

Once they saw their party, the two hatchlings tumbled across the floor and came up laughing near Elgoth. "We have just killed bigger reptiles than you," Elgoth said and did his best to smile, but it looked more like a menacing grimace. The hatchlings squeaked and ran behind him, clinging to his legs. Elgoth looked very confused.

Just then the queen entered flanked by her two advisors. Instead of the silvery gown, she wore a fur-lined robe, and the scales on her cheeks and chin held the smudges of mud, as if she had hastily swiped off a night-mask. "Poke, Jump," she called. The hatchlings ran to her and she affectionately smoothed back their frills. "Return to our chambers."

"Yes mother," they said in morose unison then scampered out of the room.

The queen looked up at us. "You have succeeded in the task I have given you. I cannot tell you what a relief this is for me and my people." She glanced back at the door where the two hatchlings had disappeared. "We are much safer now. Since you have proven yourselves, what is it you wished to discuss? I will be forthcoming."

"What were your intentions for the weapons?" Rev asked. She wasn't entirely sure she could recognize when a Lizard smiled, but the queen seemed to be doing so in the slightest of ways.

"Now you are saying what you are really thinking. Good." She swept her robe behind her and sat on the throne. "I will not wait for the Sahuagin to slaughter my people. We are warriors. We will attack them first. I am building a coalition between the Lizardfolk, Koalinth, and Bullywugs. Together we will attack this common threat."

Her words seemed to suck the air out of the room. Rev had enough sense to know that in any other context news that Lizardfolk, Bullywugs, and Koalinth were working together would have chilled her to the bone. "And you have no ill intentions toward Saltmarsh?"

The queen flicked her tongue. "The humans can go catch their fish. It's not like they would ever offer to help us. We can and will fight our own battles."

"Your highness," Triton interjected. "My king would be interested in news about your alliance, and if your intention is to fight the Sahuagin, the Sea Elves will lend our aid to this endeavor."

"Sea elves? Working with Bullywugs and Koalinth?" Her scaly brow lifted. "That is a surprising offer."

"And yet, the danger of this enemy necessitates such alliances."

"We will bring this news back to Saltmarsh," Rev added. "The humans there may be interested in helping as well to protect their port." She knew Eda was salty enough to put aside any squeamishness about working with these races, Eliander would be the one that would be difficult to convince.

That mysterious half smile returned as the queen slowly blinked at them. "This is certainly a surprising turn of events. It seems I may have misjudged you. Go freely. Speak to the humans in Saltmarsh. We will welcome their alliance if they are willing to offer it in good faith. I will make no promises before then. Our course is set, that is, as soon as the king of the Bullywugs arrives to negotiate our accord. He was supposed to arrive yesterday." She rolled her eyes.

"Your majesty," Borassos stated. "He is right outside your back door. We spotted them on our way here."

"Yes," Elgoth added. "It seems his scouts have disappeared and now he is quite lost. I heard him arguing with his men." Elgoth rested the heel of his palm on his hilt. "This swamp can be a very dangerous place."

Her tongue flicked again, then she spoke to the guard in their own language. He bowed and left with haste.

She rose and approached them. "Seeing as you have done us a great favor, I would extend the honor of allowing you to attend the accord with the Bullywug king, should you so wish, though I am sure you are in much haste to bring news back to Saltmarsh, which would benefit both of our people."

Rev picked up on the hint. "We are grateful for the honor, your majesty, but you are correct in that it is probably best if we leave. Considering the relations between certain races, it might be best if we did not _all _meet together at once. We wouldn't want to disrupt your accord."

The queen's eyes crinkled this time in what was unmistakably a smile. "Go then. May our blades cross as allies not enemies."

They bowed as they left the room, and one of the guards escorted them out.

It was still morning as they hiked back down the trail. "This task involved quite less killing than I expected," Elgoth complained.

"You almost died!" Merantha looked at him in disbelief.

"It was only a scratch." Elgoth huffed. "I have known worse.

Ruanea rolled her eyes, and Rev laughed under her breath.

Back at the beach, several normal crocodiles feasted on the carcass of their giant kin. They scattered and dove back into the water as soon as the party approached with rumbling growls of disapproval, but they did not attack. Triton and Borassos launched the jolly boat without a problem.

Back on the Sea Ghost, Whale welcomed them with a hearty laugh. "Did ye do what ye set out fer?" he asked. "We were a mite worried about ye."

"We have managed to stay in one piece, in spite of the crocodiles," Rev said as she glanced around at the crew. "I hope the weight of the ale barrels in the hold have not suffered too greatly in our absence."

Whale blushed. "You know how things are. Have to keep up morale. To Saltmarsh then?"

"Aye." Rev climbed to the till and felt the wind in her hair. "With haste."

As they sailed into port, the town seemed subdued. There were no cheering crowds to greet them this time, only a nearly empty fish market, and several stacked nets. As they docked, Rev told the crew to take some leave ashore. They could drain Heartless' barrels instead of their own that way. The dockmaster was a good man and would keep pilferers off the ship. Rev knew firsthand. He had caught her at it at least twice in her youth.

As soon as the ship was secure, Rev joined Triton to try to hunt down the council. The rest of the party decided to return home to the Salty Fish.

At the council chambers, Triton and Rev found Anders, Eliander, and Manistrad sitting around one of the tables informally discussing town matters and just talking away from prying ears. As soon as they came through the door, Eliander stood. "What news? Is Saltmarsh safe?"

Anders looked nervous but tried to hide it under a young man's nonchalance as his butler Skerron whispered something in his ear. Manistrad clearly wasn't concerned as she kicked her feet up and chewed on one of her cuticles.

Eliander stepped around the table, with his wooden leg striking a nervous beat as he met them in the center of the room. "We continued to press the Lizardfolk that you captured for information. They held to their story that they intended to defend themselves, but still mentioned an invasion."

"Yes, but they do not intend to invade Saltmarsh," Triton said with his diplomatic grace. "That should be good news, but unfortunately it is not. The invasion they are preparing for is the Sahuagin."

"What?" Eliander lost his balance for only a moment before he steadied himself on his wooden leg. Anders paled, and Manistrad slowly brought her feet down and leaned forward, listening intently. Eliander glanced back at the other councilmembers, then turned to them. "The Sahuagin are gone, driven from these waters by the sea elves a lifetime ago."

"I fought in those wars," Triton said. "And the Sahuagin are a terrible enemy. Believe me, I was as shocked as you are to see one's head nailed up on the wall of the Lizardfolk Queen's throne room. It was quite fresh."

Rev leaned in toward Eliander. "The Lizardfolk are preparing to go on an offensive against the Sahuagin threat. They are gathering allies, Bullywugs, Koalinth, and they intend to meet the Sahuagin before the Sahuagin overrun these waters."

"And you believe her? Are not these creatures gathering to unite against us?" He said, his brow furrowing. "How can we trust them?"

"They had no reason to trust us, and yet they did. They are looking for allies," Triton said. "I intend to implore my King to treat with them. I would suggest it would be in Saltmarsh's best interest to meet and listen to them as well."

"You believe them?" he turned to Rev. He had a look in his eye, as if he wanted to say the words she could see written in the lines of his face. _You have seen every underhanded shady trick in the book. You know a lie, you live by them. Are they telling the truth?_

"I believe them," Rev said simply. "Sometimes the enemy of our enemy can be a friend. It would be a great measure of peace and goodwill to return the prisoners and the weapons intended for the Lizardfolk back to their queen. They can help serve as a front line, should the Sahuagin attack. Besides, if you are worried about these races becoming long-term allies against you, the best way to prevent that is to have your own diplomatic relationship with the Lizardfolk to prevent such an occurrence. They are proud, they are fierce, but for the moment, they seem reasonable and good for their word."

Anders got up from the table and walked over to them. Manistrad had laced her fingers and rested them against her lips. "What say you, Eliander?" he asked, his voice tinged with his youth. Even though he was the same age as Rev, he seemed much younger in that moment. He had lived a charmed life compared to her. Blood still stained her hose from the crocodile's bite.

"The council will deliberate on this matter, but I hear the wisdom in your words." He turned to Triton. "You were in the Lizardfolk lair. How many warriors do they have, what mobility, what weapons, and training have they?"

Rev gave Triton a sidelong glance but didn't say anything. Her heart hammered as a heavy stone settled in her stomach. Such information would weaken the Lizardfolk queen should the King of Keoland decide he didn't wish an alliance with reptiles. Triton was too much like Eliander. He would be honest, but at what cost?

"We met with the queen, but the Lizardfolk lair was quite elaborate, and we did not get a good look at their preparations. I'm afraid I cannot say." His voice was as cool and polished as it always was.

Rev felt like the giant crocodile had just swiped her across the gut with his tail. One of Bastard's feathers could have knocked her over.

"I see," Eliander said. "Thank you, you have done well, Captain, and you, Waverider. Take this letter to the harbormaster. It will ensure you pay no docking fees in Saltmarsh."

"Thank you, Fireborn," she said as she took the sealed letter. Triton gave the councilmembers a polite nod and turned. They walked out together. As soon as the door shut behind them, Rev turned to the sea elf. "We marched right through the barracks and witnessed all of the Lizardfolk's preparations and defenses. You lied to him, the _king's _man."

He shrugged a shoulder as the dappled light from beneath a large mulberry tree played over his blue skin. Then he smiled. "That was information that was unnecessary to achieve our purpose."

Rev chuckled in shock. "I think I might like you, Triton." She slapped a friendly hand on his back. Bastard crawled over her arm and settled on the sea elf's shoulder next to his head, fluffing his feathers until he looked like a poof of green that blended surprisingly well with Triton's corded hair. Triton stroked his wing with one finger.

"Glad to be of service."

Together they strolled back to the inn.

The next day a diplomatic envoy left to meet with the Lizardfolk. Eda, Gellin, and Eliander led the party, and Rev was glad to see they had freed the prisoners and were returning them to their home.

"Well, that is done, now what?" Merantha asked as we all stood on the docks and watched them go.

"I think it is high time we went in search of Milo and Callie," Rev said. "We have a ship. I feel like hunting."

"One-Eye is not rumored to take prisoners alive," Borassos said.

"Then we will avenge them," Elgoth said. "I owe a debt." Fitzmina nodded.

"But how will we find them?" Ruanea asked.

Rev crossed her arms and looked out at the merchant ships filling their bellies with goods and fish. They were all ripe for the plucking for a pirate like One-Eye. Most of them flew the flamboyant flag of Gellin Primewater, you could see the garish atrocity for miles.

That was it, she smiled as she looked at the others. "If we fly one of Gellin's flags, we can disguise the Ghost as a merchant ship. We can sail out and wait for One-Eye to come to us."

Merantha tapped her chin. "Anders offered us work hauling cargo for him should we need funds. We should ask if he has a haul we can deliver. That way we make money, even if we don't find One-Eye."

Rev smiled at her, impressed. "That's an excellent idea. I will approach Anders and make arrangements."

"How are we going to acquire one of Primewater's flags?" Triton asked.

Rev waved a hand in the air. "Don't worry about that."

The crew spent the next day loading barrels of salted fish into the hold. Rev easily nicked the biggest Primewater flag she could find during the night. They were ready to sail by the next morning. Unfortunately, their preparations took them over the Old Shark Fin bridge.

Triton, who had never felt the effects of the bridge before, doubled over the rail and turned a strange shade of blue-green. "What manner of curse is on this place?"

"It was made by dwarves," Ruanea said. "Rumor has it, they cursed the bridge as a joke against the elves."

Triton swallowed slowly as Rev tried to shake off the sick and twisting feeling churning inside of her. "This does not feel like a joke," he said. "It feels dark."

"Leave it to dwarves to play ill jokes," Elgoth muttered. His eyes looked more sunken than usual.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" Rev asked.

"I told you, short-tips. I do not require sleep," he snapped as his eyes glazed over.

Rev let the question drop as they stepped off the bridge. She immediately felt better. With each step toward her ship, her feet felt lighter. Bastard flew high above them, and the sunlight lit his colorful wings from behind as he glided toward their ship. He landed high in the rigging and joyfully squawked as loud as he could.

Rev crossed the gangplank, and a swell of pride filled her. This is where she was meant to be. She took her place at the till, as Whale directed their crew. Ropes slapped the water as they unmoored, and the wind immediately caught their sails to pull them toward fates unknown.

As they passed under the Old Shark Fin bridge, Ruanea pointed at the keystone of the bridge. "Look, there's a rune there." She moved closer to the rail. "A seven-pointed star. It looks familiar to me, but I can't quite…"

"I saw that star in my visions last night," Elgoth said. Most of his sunburn had fully faded to a tawny bronze on his skin, but in that moment, he paled to a color much more fitting for a moon elf. "A circle of cultists chanting in robes wore it. They reminded me–" He stopped himself. After a moment he whispered. "Enormous tentacles rose up from the circle."

Rev peered at the bridge but didn't get a good view of the rune. How strange. Maybe there was more to the malady that came over them all than an old superstition. The shadow of the bridge passed overhead, and they entered the open waters. The wind picked up, buffeting her and bringing with it the familiar scent of the open sea. Rev didn't have the time or heart to think much further on the mystery.

They had a goblin to hunt.

The day passed well. The waves broke beneath the bow as their sails billowed with a strong wind. Rev stayed at the wheel while Whale barked orders at the crew. Triton looked at home standing on the deck with his arms crossed and the spray of the sea washing over him. Merantha leaned over the rail, watching the porpoises play in the currents cut by the bow.

Rev held their course, until Bastard flapped his wings from the peak of the main mast screeching "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Rev immediately drew her sword. "Battle stations!" She shouted and turned around to see a monstrous face rising over the back railing of the poop deck. The fins on either side of his face flared out as he hissed and threw himself onto the deck. Four more climbed the rail behind him.

The Sahuagin were here.

Triton yelled a warning to Elgoth who shouted back, "We'll cut them down to size."

Triton ran forward, leaping up the stairs to the higher deck three at a time. As he reached Rev, a rolling peal of thunder flew forward from his hands, distorting the air as it stormed over the back of the ship. Two of the Sahuagin fell off the rail and into the water. The ship sped on, leaving them flailing in the waves.

Merantha left her place at the bow, running over the fo'c'sle then catching the rigging to swing down onto the main deck. She shouted as she released her blast of energy, but it crashed into the lead Sahuagin's chest. He didn't move at all, just growled at the affront.

A surprise blast of ice came from Elgoth, and it formed over the leader, while a thunderous spell erupted from Ruanea.

Rev, remembering the sea battles from her youth, traced the sign in the air that her father had taught her to protect her as she moved next to Elgoth.

The rest of the Sahuagins swung over the rail and surrounded Triton. He tucked his body, as if to protect himself, but then suddenly transformed into the enormous bullfrog. He took a snap at the leader.

One of the monsters rushed forward toward Elgoth and Rev. As he did so, Elgoth grabbed a loose rope in the rigging and launched himself over the side of the ship, swinging out over the open water. As he passed, the Sahuagin slashed him with his sword, but he landed on the other side and rushed toward the leader stabbing the larger fishman with his cutlass.

"Fight men!" the leader shouted. "For the shard!"

Rev pulled her cutlass and stabbed the Sahuagin in the back of the shoulder, as he turned, she slashed him across his middle, but he brought his own blade down, and the edge caught Rev, slicing her arm.

The wind whipped Ruanea's long skirts as she ran across the deck and leapt over the hoist as she drew her bow at the same time. She aimed and fired, killing the fishman.

Triton croaked before lunging and capturing the last of the smaller Sahuagin in his wide mouth. He spit him back out over the rail as the monster screamed then hit the white waves.

Elgoth's blade charged with lightning before he hit the leader, then dropped his sword and created another magical wave of ice. Ruanea fired her missiles, and they struck the frozen monster who struggled as the waves of purple energy pulsed through him.

"You look like a fish!" Rev shouted at the leader. Bastard flew down on the rigging and sang, "OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH, Stinky Mitch did not like fish, he would not eat a single dish. His reluctance made his wife IIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE!"

The Sahuagin roared in anger as Fitzmina swooped around the deck clattering her teeth.

"So she let another eat her plate," Rev finished with a laugh.

Elgoth took a glorious swipe with his charged blade.

The leader struggled then broke free. "This is the last time I take new recruits on a training mission," he grumbled in a guttural voice, then he tried to jump off the back of the ship.

Like a whip, Triton's frog tongue snapped out and caught him, pulling him back onto the deck and holding him tight. Rev stormed forward. "What is this shard you speak of?" He grunted at her.

Merantha punished him with a blast of energy and then Elgoth punched him in the face with the hilt of his sword. "Answer beast!"

The Sahuagin threw his arms wide, freeing himself from Triton's tongue, then jumped over the back of the ship. As he did so, the lingering energy from Elgoth's strike broke in a wave of thunder, and the unconscious Sahuagin disappeared beneath the waves.

They leaned over the back rail, watching the dark waters hide their secrets when the trap to the lower decks opened with a bang. Rev turned as Borassos climbed up the ladder and yawned, then scratched his hip. The crew slowly came up behind him looking terrified. "Fine day," Borassos commented. "What have I missed?"

**Commentary: Borassos is another player that is missing from time to time. It is a little fun figuring out why he missed all the action on the weeks where he was gone and playing with that in a comical way. I set out to have a pirate character, and I LOVED having her on a ship of her own. These adventures were a lot of fun for me, sailing out into random sea encounters. This was also the week that Rev and Triton really became friends. The two characters actually work very well together, and we learned to get creative in how to work together as the weeks went on.**


	11. Chapter 11

Dungeons & Dragons/Saltmarsh

Episode 11

After swabbing the blood off the deck, the rest of the day passed without much more trouble. It would be six days before the Sea Ghost reached Southport, and for the first time they gathered together at the aft to celebrate their first Sundowner on the Sea Ghost in honor of Milo and Callie. Rev opened a decent bottle of wine, but somehow missed the sour flavor of Milo's gobwine.

She prayed Milo and Callie were still alive somewhere, and that their hunt for the Cold Kraken would lead to another Sundowner sometime in the future with the old halflings lovingly nagging one another while Bastard tipped their glasses over the rail.

Rev lifted her glass as she watched the sun touch the horizon in a blaze of fire shining on the water. "To Milo and Callie!"

Even Triton and Merantha raised their glasses, though they hadn't met the two halflings.

"So," Elgoth said as he leaned a hip against the rail and batted Fitzmina away from his glass. "It seems we found these Sahuagin."

"Yes, it greatly disturbs me to know that their scourge once again infests these waters," Triton admitted. "You have no idea how dangerous they are."

"I think I do now!" he shouted and whacked Fitzmina a little too hard. She tumbled out over the open water and splashed into the waves churning up from the wake of the ship.

"Yes, I suppose you do." Triton looked concerned as he grasped the rail. Elgoth took a long drink of his wine in peace. Bastard paced up and down the rail, swaying back and forth with his head high, peering out at the water where Fitzmina had disappeared.

Merantha turned to Triton as if nothing had happened. "What works against these Sahuagin?" she asked.

"Stabbing," he answered, "Lots of stabbing." He cleared his throat. "Aren't you concerned about your…friend?" he asked Elgoth.

Elgoth snapped his fingers and Fitzmina appeared next to him again in a poof of smoke. A piece of seaweed hung out of her eye socket, and if she had actual eyes there, Rev imagined she would be glaring.

"What are you upset for?" Elgoth said. "You needed a bath." She flew into his wineglass, forcing him to spill it on his shirt. He grabbed her by the face.

"I'll give you five silver if you hit a seagull," Rev said handing him a belaying pin.

Ruanea stepped forward. "I'll give you twenty gold if you hit Bastard."

Bastard squawked then flew up onto the mainsail. Elgoth shrugged as he tossed Fitzmina up, then whacked her with the pin, launching her back out into the waves. And just like that, a new sport was born.

The next day was quiet, sunny skies, a fine wind, and calm seas. Triton took the afternoon to crawl down into one of the jolly boats and send fish messengers to his king with news of the Sahuagin threat.

Ruanea slapped her book shut in frustration as Triton's squeals, squeaks, and clicks resonated over the deck. Elgoth crossed his arms and leaned toward Rev, the wind blowing a piece of his dark hair across his face. "Do you think fish have very good memories? What happens if they forget the message?"

Rev snorted. "I hope for Ruanea's sake, they don't come back and ask Triton to repeat it."

The day passed quietly, though Whale seemed somewhat annoyed that Rev hardly ever left the wheel. Rev was content to feel the wind in her hair and the worn wood slide against her palms as she guided the ship south.

In the heat of the late afternoon, Elgoth busied himself by practicing sword forms on the deck in nothing but his hose and boots. Rev watched closely as he gracefully swept across the deck, his blade lethal in its precision. The swirls of pale scars and dark tattoos made his skin look like the hide of a magical leopard in the bright sunlight.

"Are you staring at Elgoth again?" Ruanea asked.

"What?" Rev hastily brought her attention back to the horizon. "Absolutely not."

"I honestly don't know what you see in him," Ruanea commented, scrunching up her nose.

"I don't know either," Rev admitted, as she found herself mesmerized by the flash of green flame that slid like silk over his blade. The wind pulled strands of his blue-black hair free of its tie. "I don't even like him. He's strange, and off-putting, and he couldn't care less about me," Rev's gaze drifted back to the deck. "Something is wrong with me."

Ruanea just rolled her eyes. "I won't disagree."

On the third day of sailing, the journey was becoming right dull. Rev retreated into her cabin to escape the sun for a bit, when a call came down from Wee Fingers, the ship's lookout, "Ship ahoy!" then amended his first call. "Boat ahoy!" he cried.

_Boat?_

Rev left her cabin to chide him on his terminology when she peered over the rail and saw to her shock, a tiny jolly boat bobbing in the water. Two men were aboard, one sitting at the bow, and the other furiously rowing toward their ship.

"Bring the Ghost around," she called, and her crew scrambled to obey the order. The rest of her friends gathered along the rail.

"Ahoy! Hoy there!" came a cry from the boat. "We are in need of aid and water!"

"Let them aboard," Rev said as she took a step back from the rail. "But stay wary."

The sea had a way of playing tricks. These could be shape shifters, or bandits meant to sabotage the ship before an attack. Her crewmen dragged the beleaguered men over the rail, and after gasping their thanks and gulping down tankards of water, the bearded one stood. He had on what used to be fine clothes, though it seemed he had been in that boat for a few days at least, and the squinty-eyed look of a man who had spent years staring at the sun's glare on the open waters. His companion stooped slightly, almost as if he were making an effort not to look taller than the one with the beard. "Who here be the captain?" he asked.

Rev didn't answer immediately. Part of her wanted to see who they assumed the captain was. They looked around.

"Well is anyone the captain?" the bearded one asked.

"I am the captain," Rev said, stepping forward. "Welcome to the Sea Ghost, gentlemen. How did you find yourselves in such circumstances?"

"Ah," the bearded one said, looking a bit skeptical. "My name be Captain Smith of the Fiery Jester, and this be me first mate, Jones. I am afraid a treacherous mutiny has befallen us, and we were set adrift."

"Maroon the scum!" Bastard called from the mainsail.

"What did that parrot say?" Captain Smith said, peering up at her bird from under his shielding hand.

"Nevermind him," Rev said. "Do you know what caused this mutiny?" It was a trick question. Every captain would know what set off a crew, except perhaps the one they killed to get the Ghost. That incident was entirely on them. She was curious if this captain would admit his faults.

"The crew was unhappy with our methods of catching fish," Smith said.

One of her crew let out a cough that sounded like a desperate attempt to hide a laugh. Borassos noticed and moved closer to him.

"I hear the price for salmon is difficult lately," Elgoth said.

Jones finally spoke up, "Don't get me started on the salmon prices."

Borassos moved closer to Rev and whispered from behind her shoulder. "The crew knows this man. He has a reputation for being a hard hand and quick to punish with force. Any divergence from what he wants gets a beating. They are all glad he's not their captain."

Rev gave him a slight nod indicating that she understood the situation. Satisfied that this man was indeed human and likely to have been tossed aside by an angry crew, she relaxed somewhat.

Elgoth murmured. "Toss them back."

While she didn't appreciate a captain prone to beating his crew, she knew her men were good sailors, and would see it as terrible bad luck to leave any soul stranded with nothing on the high sea. In respect for that, she decided. "We are delivering goods to Southport. You are welcome aboard until we reach port."

"Oh, thank you, thank you, captain?" he trailed off the title as if asking for her name.

"Blackwind. What news can you share of Southport. We are keeping an eye out for a pirate ship called the Cold Kraken."

"Ah, old One-Eye," Smith said. "Aye, he sails these waters, usually comes from the north out Keoland ways. Thankfully the Jester has never crossed his path, but he has caused trouble for other ships out of Southport."

"Thank you, captain," Rev said, falling back on pleasantries. "My men will make a place for you in the hold. Try to stay out of the way."

He nodded, looking a bit deflated, like a wet rooster.

That was not her problem.

The next day, Rev was in the captain's quarters with Ruanea and Borassos tracking their progress toward Southport. The air had grown heavier with humidity, and clouds built up into soft white pillows against the blue sky. The weather would be changing soon.

Ruanea seemed fascinated by Rev's process for marking the ship's location, while Borassos added his knowledge of common fishing lanes. The Cold Kraken would stay close to easy prey, and while Rev wanted to get to Southport quickly, she also wanted to stay where the Kraken might see them. Bastard kept himself busy chewing on the edge of the map.

"Ship ahoy!" Wee Fingers cried, and Rev and the others immediately made for the door. Bastard flew to her shoulder as she stepped out onto the deck. The glare wasn't as bad today with the skies heavy with clouds.

Wee Fingers pointed off the starboard, and Rev felt her stomach drop. Bastard cuddled closer to her.

Borassos whispered, "By the mercy of the Gods."

Smith reached the rail and leaned over it. He seemed at a loss for words as he stared at a ship only a little smaller than the Sea Ghost. Its mast had been broken in half, and it sat listing to port in the dark water. He looked as if he had just stepped into his own grave. "That's the Jester."

"Elgoth, send Fitzmina to take a look." Clearly the ship had been brutally attacked, but Rev couldn't see if there were any survivors aboard. The ship seemed eerily still.

Elgoth pulled Fitzmina out of her bag and threw her aloft. "I'll hear no complaints from you, witch! Now do as you are told." His eyes turned milky white as he stood on the deck, and the tail of Fitzmina's green smoke trailed over the water toward the other ship.

"There is blood on the deck," Elgoth said. "A lot of blood. I see no survivors, or bodies." His eyes returned to their normal hue.

"We'll take a boat out. There may be survivors yet beneath the deck." Rev made a motion with her hand, and the crew prepared one of the boats. Smith looked at her with anticipation. "You and Jones may come with us."

The jolly boat splashed into the water, and it didn't take long to row over to the shattered hull of the Fiery Jester. It listed so low in the water, they could row the jolly boat up to the main deck, and step straight out onto the slanted planks.

Elgoth had not been exaggerating. Blood streaked over the deck in terrifying patterns, echoes of fear, pain and death. Black-shafted arrows stuck out of the broken mast like quills. Borassos pulled on one, it had not set deep. A weak arm pulled the bowstring that had let it loose.

Smith checked the cabins below the poop deck. He came out shaking his head, his eyes glassy. "Everything has been stripped."

Even ropes and sails had been clearly cut and salvaged. Merantha and Elgoth opened the door to the hold, and the peered into the dark and flooded interior. Rev looked inside. There were no signs of life, and again, no bodies. It was just like the description the Aileander gave of the wreckage of the Northwind. Interestingly, several planks had been pried free of the hull, and also a few of the ship's ribs removed.

Someone had used the Jester for spare parts. "I think we've seen enough," Rev said. No barrels floated about, they couldn't even salvage a scrap of sail or rope to keep for future repairs. "There's nothing left here."

One by one they climbed into the jolly boat. Jones climbed in, then looked back at the deck. Smith stood on it in a proud and frozen sort of way as the water touched his boots. Rev knew what he was thinking. She had seen that bleak pride on her mother's face. He intended to go down with the ship. "Captain sir," Jones called. "Come now. There will be other ships."

Slowly he came forward and got into the boat.

Back on the Sea Ghost, Smith collapsed with his back against the rail, and sat there like a man who had just seen his entire life shattered. Rev brought him a cup of rum and left it in his shaking hands. "I'm sorry," she said.

"Thank you, captain," he croaked out with slurred words. It seemed her crew may have offered him a similar gesture.

She stepped away from him and contemplated the Jester. Weak arrows, black shafts, missing planks from the hull. This could have been the work of the wounded Kraken. Whale came up beside her. "Do ye want us to tow her to port, Cap'n?"

"No, she will slow us down," Rev didn't want to add the words _in battle_, in front of the sailor, but she thought them. "Leave her to her rest."

The next day, the sunrise bathed the waters to the east in peaceful oranges and pinks. To the west, an angry wall of clouds rose, rumbling and flashing with the promise of danger. A storm was coming.

Rev started barking orders at her crew the same moment the edge of the sun crested the horizon. The ship needed to be prepared when the storm hit. Memories of her mother served as models in her head as she repeated orders she'd heard a hundred times and tackled the ropes alongside her crew. She was born on a ship and learned to walk during a storm like this. She knew what needed to be done.

Borassos helped with the sails, and Merantha and Ruanea worked to secure everything in the cabins and below the decks. The wind picked up, and Fitzmina began having trouble floating near Elgoth. He caught her and stowed her back in her bag as his hair flew wild, and he looked once more like the deranged man they had first met on the island.

Triton rode high on the mast holding to the ropes. As the swells rocked the deck, and the first sheets of rain hit, he seemed right at home. If he went overboard, he'd be okay. It was her crew she had to manage now.

She had been hard on them in calm waters, but now that the misery of the storm rose in full force, she changed her tack.

"Look alive men!" She shouted. "I'll not be losing a single one of you today. You are stout sailors. A little wind and rain won't defeat us!"

Bastard had crawled under the lapel of her coat and clung to her shirt near her heart.

"You know what to do!" She encouraged. "We are ready. It's time for battle!" She shouted over the roaring wind.

She watched the sailors' spines strengthen, their hands hold fast to the ropes. The deck pitched under their feet, but they held steady in the ferocity of the storm. Smith stumbled over the deck, heading toward the safety of the hold. He watched her for a moment as she pulled with her men to secure the mainsail. He seemed confused at first, then contemplative as he held his hat to his head and disappeared below.

The storm pounded at the Ghost for hours. Rev's arms shook as she held the wheel, turning into the biggest swells so the Ghost could race over them head on to keep them from capsizing. They rode the pitching waves until the sea calmed, and the clouds broke to reveal a wash of stars. The rain fell like a gentle caress on her face, when she felt a steady hand on her shoulder.

"Get some sleep, Captain," Whale said. "The worst is over now. I'll hold the wheel." The sails unfurled as her exhausted crew stumbled toward the hatch to find their hammocks below. Only Wee Fingers climbed the main mast as it swayed with the lingering waves from the storm. Young and spindly, his deep brown skin blended with the night sky as he pulled himself into the crow's nest. Once he was safely tucked in his lookout, Whale turned to her. "You did well, Captain. You earned the faith of your crew tonight."

"Thank you, Whale," Rev said as Bastard cautiously crawled out of her coat and shook out his soaked feathers. Mists rose from the calming seas. "We reach Southport tomorrow. May we find peace tonight."

"Aye Captain." Whale smiled, revealing his gold tooth, and for a moment he reminded her of Silvey.

As soon as Rev peeled herself out of her wet clothes, and changed into a dry shirt and hose, she collapsed in her bed, with Bastard contently grinding his beak from his perch on the bedpost. She slept like the dead, but it didn't last for long.

"SAIL HO!" The panicked cry forced Rev out of her slumber as she leapt out of bed and drew her weapons. She had learned the tone of Wee Finger's cries, and this was sheer terror.

She ran out onto the deck in her bare feet. "Battle stations!" she cried, before she even saw what the danger was. Thankfully her friends were just as quick to wake as she had been. She looked around for the Cold Kraken, only to see an enormous ship with black mist for sails. Its hull looked like a sunken wreck from a hundred years ago had been dragged to the surface of the water. It pressed so close to the side of their hull, she doubted a man could fall between them.

"Triton's mercy," she whispered under her breath. Then she ran to the helm and shouted to Whale, who looked petrified. "Take Wee Fingers and get below!" The older man moved with swiftness as the eerie grins of skeletal sailors peered over the rail of the ghost ship. He grabbed the young lad and dragged him to the hold.

A skeleton jumped down from the higher deck of the ghost ship onto the main. Rev ran forward and stabbed it with her rapier, shaking the bones of the skeleton's ribs.

Ruanea looked calculating as she muttered a spell, and her webs shot out, catching two of the skeletons already on the main, and forming a sticky mess for the rest to jump into.

"I like your thinking," Merantha called to her as she blasted the skeleton near Rev.

Elgoth made a running leap and flipped off the fo'c'sle onto the main. His blade let out a rumble of thunder as he struck one of the skeletons stuck in Ruanea's web.

Triton stabbed it with his trident, and it shattered. "Well these are easy to manage, unlike the Sahuagin."

"Not if they come in numbers," Rev warned as two of the skeletons broke free of the web and scrambled onto the deck. Rev stabbed one and it crumbled into a pile of bones. She kicked the skull over onto the main as she slashed another while jumping down the stairs.

Elgoth took out another skeleton, then rushed forward, killing the one that Rev had just slashed.

Borassos called for his fire, but it sputtered in the damp air. Two more skeletons leapt onto the deck and one got caught in the web.

Merantha blasted the other over the rail and the dead man fell between the two ships.

One of the skeletons struggled to pull his bony hands out of the webs clinging to the ghost ship's railings. Rev took a deep breath. It seemed the worst of the attack was over. Then she heard a huffing, a rhythmic hiss that turned into an angry huff, faster, faster. Then a bellow broke the still quiet of the night sea.

She fell back on her heel as an enormous skeletal minotaur launched over the rail of the ghost ship and landed on the poop deck. He tucked his skull down and charged her with his black horns. They caught her hip, gutting her, but she managed to twist away under the swing of his sword and stabbed the monstrous skeleton beast before running back toward Ruanea. She could feel her blood soaking into her new hose, hot and sticky, unlike the cool rain from the storm.

Ruanea blasted him with fire, and the minotaur's steaming breath blew back in the flames.

Fitz flew past the beast's skull, clattering her teeth at the monster. Elgoth pointed at his sword, and sent it flying but the beast managed to dodge the blade before it boomeranged back to Elgoth's hand.

Rev looked up, her vision blurring and saw the one skeleton on the ghost ship still struggling to pull his hands free of the web.

"You are dust," Borassos called, and one of the skeletons still on the deck of their ship exploded. Each of his bones splintered until nothing was left but dust. His words effected the minotaur as well, and tendrils of mist flowed out between the creature's bones like flowing blood.

Merantha turned around with her hands glowing. She found Rev and touched her with healing magic.

With another great bellow, the minotaur jumped down on the main and charged Elgoth, goring him with his black horn.

Rev, feeling stronger but still burning in pain, gritted her teeth and ran to the beast. She stabbed him then ducked behind Borassos. He pulled his hammer and smashed the minotaur in the femur while Ruanea flung more fire at it and Elgoth slashed through the skeleton beast's ribs with his cutlass.

Merantha held her hands out in front of her and with a gleam of power radiating around her, blasted the minotaur. The beast flew backward crashing into the ship rail. The rail shattered on impact, but the monster gained his feet and managed to stay on the deck.

With angry steam billowing out of the skull's nostrils, the minotaur stood, then roared, and charged toward Elgoth. A clap of thunder sounded, and the beast stumbled. Elgoth ducked backward under his blade in a move reminiscent of the forms he had been practicing in that exact same place.

Rev limped up the stairs to the poop deck and ran behind the bellowing beast. Mist spilled out from the gaps between his bones. She took her cutlass in both hands, and with a fierce jab downward, split the creature's skull between his horns.

Slowly, like a dream that breaks before waking, the solid bones of the minotaur disappeared, melting into mist.

As they did, the ship dissolved as well, returning once more to the ghostly realm from whence it came.

Rev fell to the deck, crossing her legs and hanging her head as the excited crew bubbled up out of the hold, and began speaking all at once. They wanted to know every detail of the fight from Borassos and the others. She didn't have the heart to speak. She was too exhausted.

"You a'right, Captain?" Whale asked, offering her a hand. She took it and let him pull her to her feet.

"I'll be fine. The sooner we reach Southport the better." She inspected her hip. Thankfully Merantha's healing had stopped the worst of the bleeding. She would have to patch it up, but now she didn't know how she would manage to sleep again for the rest of the night.

Ruanea climbed the stairs carrying Bastard on her fist. Her parrot flapped his wings as she approached, but she held him like a seasoned falconer. Ruanea held out her hand and her bird flew to her, cuddling his warm feathers up into her neck beneath her chin.

She stroked a hand down his back. "Thank you," she said to the other elf.

Ruanea didn't exactly smile, but there was a gleam in her eye as she gave Rev a nod, then retreated back to the cabins.

"Sleep with the fishes," Bastard said as he shook out his feathers.

"I'm tired too." She scratched his head and let him climb back up onto her shoulder. She was ready to see port, but knew danger still awaited them.

**Commentary: Ah the joys of random encounters. The skeleton ship was a pretty epic battle. Fitz-golf also became a bit of a favorite sport for our party. Someone would mention playing Fitz-golf almost every time we had a quiet moment on a ship. We are terribly mean to that poor cursed skull.**


	12. Chapter 12

Dungeons & Dragons/Saltmarsh

Episode 12

That night the crew broke open a new barrel of ale. Rev was so exhausted, she passed on it, and by morning it was clear that it was a good thing she did. She met Thirsty Patches, the ship's surgeon below deck. He showed her the ring of black on the lid.

"Bad seal," he said shaking his head. He was a skinny man with short-cropped blonde hair, a long nose, and kind eyes. "That'll be the reason half the crew is currently bent over the rail feeding the fishes."

Indeed, half the crew, as well as Merantha and Elgoth were sick as dogs above. Rev was almost glad to be below decks, just so she didn't hear them retching. "Is it serious?" she asked. They were due into port within the hour, and she didn't want to lose anyone to bad beer.

Patches scratched his head. "Oh, everyone should live. They may want to die right now, but most will be feeling better in a day or so. I can whip up something that might help. It's probably best for those that are afflicted if they stay on the ship. I can care for them."

Rev patted a strong hand on his shoulder. "Good man."

Unfortunately, Ugly Whale came down with the stomach illness along with the others. That left Rev to man the wheel and bring them into port. It took all her strength of will not to heave over the rail herself in the presence of those that were sick. To make matters worse, it took less than twenty minutes for Bastard to learn to mimic the sound, which he uttered to his delight over and over again, then laughed.

Rev had never been so glad to see land. Southport was a shambling little sailing town in the middle of a natural inlet where the shelf below water cut close to the shoreline in the bay. It made for deep waters all the way up to the docks, and even large sea vessels could make port there. As they passed into the bay, whales breached into the morning sun, spraying water in bursting arcs as they swam through the deep waters singing eerie songs.

Rev hadn't been to Southport in about ten years. Absolutely nothing had changed in that time. Like Saltmarsh, most of the buildings were made from wood that had been salvaged from old ships. They were common and functional buildings, with shops and pubs in the level below, and homes in the story above. A few large warehouses sat on their wares the way fat geese sat on their nests. The only other large structure was the government building that regulated the trade through the port. There were no houses or families that lived here. It was a town built for ships and sailors who needed to trade their goods, and buy a dram of whiskey or two.

Rev had never been so glad to get off a ship. Still weary, at least they were on land for a moment. It didn't take long for the dock master to march toward the ship. He moved with purpose as his heavy boots clonked against the old dock.

"I know this ship, this is a smuggler's ship. This isn't Saltmarsh. We don't turn a blind eye to such lawlessness here." He tapped at the ledger in his hand.

"This ship is under new management," Rev greeted. "We come bearing a load of salted fish from Anders Solmor."

The dock master softened just a moment, and Bastard proceeded to make barfing sounds in Rev's ear. She flicked him in the chest.

"Ah, well, if that is the case," the dock master said. "No other goods?"

"No, our only other business is buying what your fine town might offer, and perhaps picking up a new shipment of goods for the next leg." Rev held her hands out. She took the ledger and signed her name along with the account of their goods.

"Very well," he looked at the ledger. "Captain Blackwind. My name is Tom Addison. Go to see Davey Deepsea for payment and help unloading your wares. He does all the business here for Solmor. You can usually find him in the Groovy Nugget down yonder."

Triton stepped up beside Rev. Tom looked a little surprised to meet a sea elf but didn't say anything about it. "We are looking for a pirate named One-Eye, a goblin," Triton said.

Tom bristled. "I'll have you know Southport is a reputable town. We don't have the piracy problems that you find up in Saltmarsh."

"This is one piracy problem we would like to get rid of," Rev stated.

Bastard stopped retching long enough to say "Kill! Kill! Kill!" and squawk.

Tom relaxed again. "In that case, you should ask around at the Ankle Anchor. Watch yourselves. It's a place for the rougher sort."

"Understood," Triton said in his elegant accent, and old Tom looked a bit dubious at their prospects.

Ruanea and Borassos came down the gangplank followed by Smith and Jones. Tom gave the other captain a sympathetic look as the ruined captain bowed his head and thanked them all for saving their lives. Then together he and Jones made for the government building.

As they headed into town, Rev heard Tom say to one of the other men on the dock. "Can't say we didn't see that mutiny coming." She wondered how news traveled here so fast. She couldn't see Tom the dockmaster using Triton's fish messengers. And did they know about the full fate of the Jester?

It didn't take long to walk down to the Groovy Nugget. Once inside, it also didn't take long for them to find Davey Deepsea. The Nugget was built in the front of a large warehouse. Banners of shipping merchants hung around the high bannisters while dock workers flowing in and out of both the front and the back of the building. It was bright inside, a place of constant movement and business. Sitting at a table like a king at court, was a very large man with a jovial smile and a big, bellowing laugh. He was well dressed, with a rich offering of food in front of him, including some fine delicacies from distant places. To his right, a small, balding man with spectacles, that looked a bit like a tiny owl come to life, furiously scribbled in a ledger.

"We're here delivering a load of salted fish from Anders Solmor," Rev announced.

"Ah!" Deepsea threw his arms wide. "Well met, well met, friends. And what price are we expecting for these goods?"

Rev smiled at him. "Twenty-eight hundred," she said, knowing that it was three hundred above the promised price.

Davey raised one eyebrow. Then he bellowed in laughter. "What a great joke! I like a bold captain with a fine sense of humor," he says. "I'll buy you a round for that, and you will have the regular price."

Rev chuckles too, glad that he is a man who understood these sorts of things. She wouldn't try that trick with him again. "You know how it is. The price of salmon is always fluctuating," she said as she raised her glass to him.

He nodded knowingly as his scribe kept writing. "Indeed. He turned to Triton." I haven't seen a sea elf in these parts. What brings you out of the water?"

"Evil tidings, I'm afraid," he said. "Have any of your merchants seen sahuagin in these waters?"

"Sahuagin!" Davey leaned back in his chair and the wood creaked beneath him. "Didn't your kind eliminate them a hundred years ago?"

"I'm afraid they are back. They attacked our ship on the way here," Triton said. "Saltmarsh is preparing for the threat of an invasion."

"Well this is distressing news," he turned to Ruanea and smiled appreciatively at her. "Is that why an elf has taken to the sea? You know I'm an eighth elf on my grandmother's side."

"I'm the ship wizard," she said, her voice completely devoid of emotion. "I can find different spell books in ports."

Davey's flirtatious smile faded at her completely bland tone. "Well then you should go to Barb's Bookeria. She doesn't do much business, what with most sailors around her not knowing how to read, but an educated woman like yourself might find something of interest there."

"Thank you," Ruanea said, her voice unchanging. She never smiled.

The merchant cleared his throat. "And you, my man. You seem a stout sort of chap. What brings you here?"

Borassos looked shocked that someone was actually speaking to him. "I used to be a fisherman."

"I see, and now you have given it up for a life of adventure?" He patted his belly. "I used to think of setting off on adventure you know. Does this crew suit you?"

"There are more things to hit around them." Borassos shifted on his feet.

"Yes, very well," Davey made a hand motion to his scribe. "See that the shipment is quickly unloaded." And with that he waved them off.

Rev, Triton and Borassos went to the shipwright and purchased a ballista with a pair of bolts. After seeing the wreck of the Fiery Jester, they didn't want to go into battle with another ship completely defenseless.

Rev caught up with Ruanea in Barb's Bookeria. The dusty little shop wasn't so much a shop as hundreds of piles of books stacked on the floor, with a little old woman in enormous spectacles engrossed in a book near the only clean window. Rev coughed, and the woman didn't look up from her book, instead she mumbled directions to different stacks as she pointed in vague directions around the shop. Triton followed her in and browsed through some of the stacks.

Bastard perched on one of the stacks and preened as Rev found Ruanea in the corner. "Find anything interesting?" she asked. Ruanea raised one eyebrow. "I guess not."

"Nothing for me," she said, "but you might have an interest in this." She pulled out a map from one of the stacks. Beautifully drawn, and meticulously precise, it detailed every cove, inlet, and the prevailing currents of the Sea of Steam and all ports from Brim Stone to Saltmarsh.

"Now this is a find," Triton commented. "I have only seen maps of ours that match such detail. Rev tossed a few coins into a bowl in front of Barb to pay for the map, and the old woman waved them off.

They found Borassos in the small weather-beaten church, conversing with a kindly looking priest. The holy man turned to greet them. "Fellow wanderers I see."

"Greetings," Rev said. She thought about the rune on the bridge. "You are a holy man. Have you ever seen a symbol of a seven-pointed star?" she asked, wondering if it was an archaic holy symbol of some sort.

"Only once," he said. "On the back of a pirate ship with yellow markings. The Cruel Kitten, was it?"

"The Cold Kraken?" Rev asked.

He snapped his fingers. "That's it. The captain comes in here every month or so to pay tribute. He's very pious, for a goblin."

"When was the last time he was here?" Rev asked, contemplating setting an ambush in the church.

"Oh, it's been weeks. I'm not sure when he will return, but he can usually be found near Brim Stone."

"Thank you, Father," Rev said.

"I'm not your father, child." He smiled as they left the church.

In the alley between the church and the Ankle Anchor, a group of men were throwing dice with a lady with substantial hair. They could hear the shouts from the game as they entered the pub.

Rev felt disoriented for a moment. The Ankle Anchor was almost an exact replica of the Salty Fish, only dirtier. Behind the bar, a red-haired woman of familiar height and stature poured drinks for seedy characters. The only difference was that this woman wasn't nearly as fair as Heartless, though she seemed much more boisterous and loquacious. People of all sorts filled the bar, including a fair number of half-orcs.

Rev shuddered. She hated sailing with half-orc crews and had no interest in mingling with them now. They made their way to the bar.

"Ha! New faces. I'm Ursel Aldargh, best barkeep on the seas. What can I get you?" she asked.

Rev ordered an ale and got several strange looks. Ursel gave her a wry smile as she passed the mug over. Rev took a sip, and it was barely more than piss in water.

"Anyone with hair on their chest orders whiskey in these parts," Ursel said, leaning forward and displaying her boyish torso.

"It's for the bird," Rev said, and put the mug down. Bastard crawled down her arm, and gladly drank from the mug. Ursel shrugged.

"Do you happen to know Heartless Copper?" Rev asked. Heartless had been staring out to sea, and Rev wondered if she didn't have a distant love sailing in ports unknown. It was a mystery she wanted to discover.

"Ha! Old Heartless. Yeah, I know her. I beat her up when we were children. She flexed a bicep and kissed it. "It's too bad she's so plain. Not like me. I never suffer a lack of interest." Ursel threw her hair over her shoulder, and Rev coughed to cover a laugh. In a contest for sheer beauty, it would take at least six Ursels to equal one Heartless.

Just then a commotion erupted behind them. Rev turned to see a half-orc squaring off against a human sailor. The crowd instinctively took a step back, forming a ring, and the fight was on. Drips of blood sprayed from busted lips as the two took swipes at one another. When the human crawled on the orc's back and bit his ear, Ursel rang a small silver bell, and the fight broke off.

The orc put six copper in a bucket, and Ursel poured them both a dram of whiskey. They sipped it very slowly and carefully.

Just then a young lad walked in with more gangly limbs than whiskers on his chin. He triumphantly ordered a whiskey and downed it in one gulp, then promptly turned green. Ursel picked up a bucket from behind the bar and placed it in front of him without breaking the rhythm of pouring drinks for other patrons. The lad promptly got sick in the bucket, and Bastard helpfully mimicked the sound.

"You bucket, you chuck it," Ursel said, pointing to her pile of coppers.

"I don't have the money to pay for the bucket," the lad protested between heaves.

"Then you do the honors and scrub the lot." She waved her hand at a line of buckets on the wall, and the demoralized young sailor hauled his bucket out back to clean it. The crowd cheered.

Ursel looked at them with suspicion in her eye. "So, are you going to order a real drink or not?"

"I'll order one for me, and one for the bucket boy," Rev said.

Ursel passed her a drink. "Trust me, he's in here every week and can't learn. He don't need another. What about you?"

Ruanea nodded and shrugged. Ursel passed her a small pull.

Rev took a sip, and the warmth that spread through her almost made her forget her exhaustion. It was the finest whiskey she had ever tasted, and she got the feeling, it was Ursel's personal brew, and she was right to be proud of it.

"Has anyone here seen sahuagin in these waters?" Rev asked raising her voice loud enough to let the rest of the bar easily listen in. "We had a group attack our ship. They said something about fighting for a shard."

"Sahuagin!" Someone shouted and laughed. "Saw how 'gin?" he mocked. Bellowing laughter filled the bar. "You must be from Saltmarsh with that accent. A little thing like you couldn't fight off a monster like that."

Rev wasn't about to get baited into buying them whiskey, and she didn't need another. While most of the patrons were laughing, one half-orc turned really quiet and stared intensely out of a window so blackened with filth, it was impossible to see out of it. Borassos noticed as well and ordered a couple of drinks.

Rev left Bastard drinking from his watered-down ale cup, and slunk along the edge of the crowd to a place where she could listen in.

"Care to share a drink?" Borassos offered as he sat across from the orcish man. "What's your name, friend."

"Joe." The orc carefully sipped the whiskey. Rev had never heard of anyone with orcish blood being named something so human, or provincial. It was a lie.

"I have a feeling you know something about this shard business," Borassos said in a patient voice.

"I know absolutely nothing about a shard," _Joe_ protested. "And I have never accidentally overheard two cloaked men trying to be secretive, mention anything about a shard in a pub about twenty miles north of here. And you definitely should not ask them about it."

"I see," Borassos said. "Very well then. Enjoy your whiskey."

Rev backed away.

"Hey," someone shouted from the bar. "I don't like your bird!"

"Yeah," Rev answered. "I don't like him either." She scooped up Bastard. "Come on, it's time to go."

Triton and Ruanea looked relieved. This crowd was spoiling for a fight for free booze, and Rev was not in the mood to lose teeth to a bunch of drunk half-orc sailors. She'd had enough of that nonsense when she was sixteen.

Borassos headed out the door followed by Ruanea and Rev, but as soon as Triton crossed the threshold, someone grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around. An ugly-by-even-half-orc-standards sailor with a gold tusk leaned up into Triton's face. "I don't like the look of blue pointy-eared bastards," he growled. That was ironic considering he was green, and his own ears were pointed.

"Who you calling a Bastard? Bastard!" Bastard squawked from her shoulder.

Triton sighed as if this was all so very beneath him, then turned into a giant bullfrog and chomped down on the astonished half-orc.

Borassos just folded his arms while Ruanea ducked behind a barrel near the Nugget.

Rev sighed as a swarm of sailors spilled out of the Anchor, shouting about cheating and magic. She was too tired for this nonsense. Reaching into her bag she pulled out some rose petals and her tin pipe and started playing.

One by one, every single sailor that had stormed out of the bar in a rage, dropped into a snoring drunken sleep. She tucked her tin pipe away. It would do the lot of them some good. Triton spit out the sleeping orc and transformed back into his normal self.

"Time to leave," he suggested as angry patrons shook fists at them and dragged their sleeping friends back into the bar.

As they passed the government building, they saw Smith leaving, looking both angry and broken. "How are things going?" Triton asked him.

"How do you think they are going?" Smith shouted. "I told them about the attack on the Jester, but they had already caught wind of a mutiny. Insurance doesn't pay for losing a ship to a mutiny. I have nothing! I am ruined." And with those words he shambled off alone into one of the alleys. Jones looked unsure if he would follow but then trotted after his captain.

Back on the ship, those that were ill were confined to their bunks under the care of Thirsty Patches. Rev gathered the rest of the crew. They had done good work bolting the ballista to the deck. "Go and have some fun. If anyone asks, you might want to say you are the crew of the Northwind. Stay out of trouble. I expect you back at six bells." The crew pushed to make it down the gangplank. "Oh, and if you are tired of cleaning out fouled buckets, it's best to sip the whiskey!" she shouted after them.

The rest of the night passed in relative peace and quiet. Rev was glad to get some rest. As dawn broke, the bell on the docks clanged out a tinny ring. Her crew was nowhere in sight.

Four more bells clanged, and Rev crossed her arms. On the sixth, like some sort of weird magic, they all ended up at the end of the plank, with bruised and swollen faces, but looking happy.

"Get aboard," she chided with a smile. Ruanea, Borassos, and Triton wandered over at the commotion. "How fare the others?" Rev asked.

"Still ill," Borassos said. "We should check with Davey to see if he has a shipment we can deliver if we are sailing out."

"Merantha would approve." Rev whistled to Bastard and he flew down from the top of the ballista and landed on her shoulder.

Davey was sitting at the same table in the Nugget, feasting on bacon and eggs. "Well met, friends. What can I do for you today?"

"We are heading out today and wanted to know if you had goods that need shipping," Rev said plainly. His bacon smelled really good. Bastard leaned down on her arm, but she flicked him. The last thing her bird needed was bacon.

"Yes, yes of course. I have a shipment of hand axes that needs to go to War Paint in Brim Stone, if you can stomach it. For some reason, no other ship wants to sail that way. You can send payment back with a half-elf named Nord. I trust him, and he'll cut you the standard share." Davey leaned closer to Rev. "Just don't try to _joke_ with War Paint. Not the type to find it funny."

"Understood," Rev said. "As it happens, we have some business to take care of near Brim Stone. Send your men with the goods, and we'll head off shortly." She reached out a hand. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you."

He smiled as he kissed the back of her hand instead of shaking it. "And you, Captain Blackwind."

They set out to sea with a strong wind. Rev had the helm as most of the crew were feeling better thanks to Patches and his elixir. Elgoth and Merantha refused to take it though and were still below deck feeling ill. Occasionally Fitzmina would float around the deck, chattering her teeth at them, but Rev just shook her head and told the skull she couldn't understand her. Fitzmina would sink down a few feet in the air and bob away again.

On the first night, the warning bell clanged. Rev looked out over the dark seas. A ship with black sails was heading toward them on an intercept course.

"What do you think?" Borassos asked.

"It could be One-Eye. If the Kraken is down, he'll have another ship. Are we looking for a fight?" She turned to the others.

"We are down by two," Ruanea said. "A fight would be difficult without them."

"Then we won't let them catch us." Rev climbed up the stairs to the poop deck shouting orders to cast full sails to the wind. "The Ghost can outrun them, boys! They'll touch nothing but our wake!"

They maneuvered the Ghost to take advantage of both the wind, and the currents in Rev's new map, and but it still took time before the other ship became lost beyond the horizon. When it disappeared the crew cheered, and Rev was relieved, but the chase had taken them off course. It took three full days to reach Brim Stone.

Thankfully, in the three quiet days at sea, Elgoth and Merantha started feeling better. They were standing above decks when Brim Stone came into sight on the horizon.

It was a very different sort of dock from Southport. The docks were made of stone, rising up out of the water like small fortresses that surrounded each ship. As they drew the Ghost carefully into the port, they had to use poles to protect the sides of the ship from crushing up against the stone and damaging the hull. Once in their berth, they sent a small red flag up on a pole at the end of the dock to show this one was occupied and brought a heavy chain from pier to pier locking their ship in place.

Not a single crewman asked to set foot off the ship. They were quite content to stay with their rations and risk another bad barrel of ale. This port rattled them, and Rev didn't blame them for wanting to stay.

Elgoth was the first one off the ship, but even Fitzmina seemed worried as she floated slightly behind him. "Well, this seems pleasant." Rev could tell he was very glad to leave the ship and wasn't put off by the frightening nature of the port at all.

Merantha still walked on slightly unsteady legs. She leaned on her staff as she reached the stone docks. No dockmaster came to greet them.

Rev scratched Bastard's head. "I guess it's up to us to find this War Paint, person." She kept her hand on the hilt of her cutlass.

The town was made up of six large square buildings made of stone. Each one stood like an impenetrable fort, and no one walked in the streets between. Signs hung above each door, _Raw Mutton, Closed Fist, Spider Lair, Yellow Dancer._ A small guard shack stood in the center of the courtyard between them.

A lattice of bars barricaded a weary looking guard in the tiny hut. "What's your business here?" he said in a bored voice.

"We have a shipment for War Paint," Rev answered. He didn't ask them to sign a ledger. Instead he pointed to the building to the right. The sign above it helpfully read 'War Paint.'

They crossed the courtyard to the enormous double doors that had been hewn from whole oak trunks and banded together with iron. "He never asked us for a docking fee," Triton mentioned.

Everything about this place felt hostile and lawless. The sooner they found One-Eye the better.

Borassos pushed the doors open and they found themselves in a cavernous room. There was no warm fire or anything that would have made this place seem welcoming. A large bar stretched along the back wall. The bar itself was rough-hewn but worn smooth with use, and both high and deep enough that drunk patrons couldn't reach across it to attack the half-orcs tending behind. Each of the bartenders had a polearm attached to the wall within easy reach, so they could smash heads from behind the bar if need be.

To either side of them were small office rooms with shut doors and no windows. There was no way to tell who was inside. Other than that, a smattering of tables filled the area with about twelve of the seediest lot of half-orcs Rev had ever seen, clustered in small groups around them.

They were looking for a half-orc, and a half-elf. The only patrons of the bar that could match that description were a half-orc speaking to a human looking man with his face hidden by a cloak in the far corner.

Quietly they crossed the room to get closer to the pair. Their party definitely stood out, and everyone in the bar watched their progress with the steady and wary gaze of feral dogs in an alley.

As they reached the corner, the half-orc stood. She had thought he was standing at the bar before, but apparently not. Suddenly Rev wasn't convinced he was a half-orc at all. He had to be closer to three quarters, or seven eighths. He rose like a mountain from his seat and crossed arms the size of yearling pigs, then glared at them.

"What do you want?" he huffed in a heavy accent, his tusks giving him a slight slur to his speech.

"We have an arms delivery for War Paint," Rev responded in orcish.

He raised one eyebrow, surprised and responded in kind. He seemed relieved that he didn't have to speak common. "Boss is in his office," and nodded to the corner room to their left.

"Back to your drink." Rev used the slang in gratitude, and the half-orc grunted and turned back to the bar.

As he did, Borassos nudged her and lifted his chin slightly toward the man who had been speaking with the half-orc.

He tucked down lower over his mug and tried to pull his hood over his face so as not to be seen, but Rev would never mistake him anywhere.

Silvereye.

**Commentary: The bad beer was the DM's way of incorporating missing players into the story for this week. Both Elgoth and Merantha were out, so we were missing both our primary fighter, and our primary healer. We also had not been given a long rest since the Sahuagin fight. Our DM likes to push the players until they are out of resources because he believes it sparks creative thinking when no one has any spell slots anymore. Well, without Elgoth or Merantha, Triton, Borassos, Ruanea, and I were in absolutely no mood to fight. He tried so hard to goad us into a bar fight. We could all tell he wanted us to have one by now and this was the chance. He made everything in Southport abrasive and combative, and at every turn we wiggled out of it. Consequently, we are no longer welcome in Southport.**


	13. Chapter 13

Dungeons & Dragons/Saltmarsh

Episode 13

Rev met Silvereye's gaze, but neither of them spoke. If he was running some bit of underhanded piracy with the half-orcs, acknowledging him might get him killed. It was best to ignore him for now. Hopefully she would find him to speak with him later. She didn't know what sort of business the old man would have with a bunch of blood-thirsty half-orcs, and she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know.

The enormous half-orc escorted them into the small room to their right. Inside another half-orc sat behind a large oak table that had been rough-hewn. The surface was rippled with swirled grain and knots. The merchant at the table wore hand-tooled leather clothing with silver studs embedded into intricate patterns. He reminded her of some of the wealthy merchant traders in Saltmarsh, if they had chosen aggressive martial clothing. His long black hair was pulled back, and he favored his human half more than some of the other half-orcs in the bar. His dark eyes gleamed with intelligence as he wrote in a ledger. The enormous one walked around the table and whispered in his ear.

"Ah, the hand axes have arrived. Good." He didn't stand, instead he leaned back in his chair and folded his fingers together in a relaxed gesture. "I trust you haven't had problems with the shipment so far, and Deepsea is expecting his regular price?"

"Indeed," Rev said in orcish. "One thousand for the lot."

He smiled at her, revealing his sharp teeth. "Very well. And have you been to Brim Stone before?" he asked in common and twirled his hand in the air as if asking for her name.

"Captain Blackwind. I can't say I've had the pleasure," Rev said. "It seems well fortified."

He laughed, a sound a little like a snorting pig. "I am Genotta Stabhard, leader of the War Paint clan. As you may have noticed, there are six clans here. We don't get along."

"You don't say," Ruanea mumbled.

He chuckled. "If you want payment for those hand axes, you have to safely deliver them into the building. The other clans will want a piece of them. It's going to be dangerous."

"We don't mind danger," Elgoth said.

Stabhard eyed Fitzmina floating next to him. "I see that, but you might be outnumbered."

"I was a smuggler once and still have deep ties," Merantha said. "If your clan knows any smugglers, they will aid me."

The rest of their party looked at her in surprise. She had never revealed this part of herself before.

"Orion, go find Ott," he said to the enormous guard. Orion shambled out and came back in with another half-orc that barely stood above a goblin's stature. He began speaking with Merantha in a strange coded language. In the end, he nodded vigorously, then came around the table to speak with Stabhard.

The leader nodded. "Very well. Ott will help come up with a plan to sneak the weapons into the building. I will also offer some of my men to help, but only if you help me in return." He steepled his fingers, and his sharpened fingernails formed perfect points.

"What are you asking?" Rev said, crossing her arms.

"Clan Yellow Dancer has been causing us problems, and it is high time we knocked them down. If we can succeed in overthrowing them, War Paint will become the most powerful clan here, and the port will rename itself for us. The Brim Stone clan has gotten lazy."

Orion snorted while Ott cackled. Stabhard continued. "Yellow Dancer is comprised of a bunch of snotty little goblins with no respect. They keep insulting Orion's mother and making him cry."

Orion frowned, and swiped a large green finger under his nose.

"The Yellow Dancer leader fancies himself a pirate but managed to damage his ship in a battle near Saltmarsh. They are down in the cove, repairing it on the beach. I have planned to raid the little rats while they are outside of the protection of their fort, but my men are not very subtle in battle."

Ruanea coughed to hide a laugh, while Borasoss slowly looked up at Orion.

"Yet I am sure they are mighty foes," Rev stated. Yellow Dancer. A goblin pirate. A wrecked ship. It had to be One-Eye.

"Goblins are cowards." Stabhard stated as he stood behind the table. "Cut off the head of the snake, and they will scatter like cockroaches. We intended to launch a bold attack from the front, but the battle might fall to our favor much quicker if someone were able to sneak into the heart of the ship and kill the Yellow Dancer leader."

Rev placed her palms on the table and leaned forward. "We are all for killing goblin pirates who like the color yellow."

Stabhard also placed his hands on the table and leaned forward to match her position. His dark gaze dipped down to her chest, then returned to her face with a wicked gleam. "Good. I think I like you, Captain Blackwind. The raid begins at noon."

# # #

Rev and the others watched from a patch of tall, dry seagrasses on the top of a sandy dune. The Cold Kraken lay on her side with the deck of the ship facing their position. Goblins scurried around bringing supplies and wood planks up to the scaffolding covering the repairs. A few scouts and guards hid around the ship.

Elgoth drew his sword, but Triton held a hand out. "I will hide us, but we must wait for the half-orcs."

Just then one raised a large animal horn and blew a trumpeting blast. The half-orcs roared as the vanguard swept down the beach. Goblins scrambled from in and around the ship to meet them.

Triton cast a spell and the gray mist surrounded them as they hurried to the rear of the ship. Rev sang under her breath as they went and hoped that the song would bring them strength in the battle ahead.

They could hear the sounds of the ferocious battle on the other side of the ship as they reached the scaffolding in the back. The planks of the hold were still new and not yet sealed, but it seemed quicker and quieter to climb up the scaffold. Ruanea was the first one up and waved the rest of them to follow. They climbed quickly and crept onto the deck like cats hunting rats.

On the slanted deck of the ship, only two goblins remained. Both of them were riveted to the battle raging on the beach below. Rev signaled to Triton and he drew his dagger. They crept forward, and at once, they slit the goblin throats without a sound or mercy.

Merantha crawled down the ladder into the hold, and Elgoth sent Fitzmina down with her. "It appears safe," he whispered.

Everyone else quickly scaled down the ladder.

The hold was dimly lit from the light shining in from the two holes in the deck above them. Hammers and nails scattered around, along with some random barrels and construction materials. On either side of the long room was a single closed door.

"I smell something," Triton warned, then waved to the aft of the slanting hold. Rev peered through the dark and noticed the quivering tips of goblin ears behind some barrels. She pulled out her tin-pipe, crushed her rose petals, and played.

Three goblins fell out from behind the barrels, sound asleep. Rev and Merantha tied them up. They woke up a minute later, and Merantha tried to charm them, but it didn't work, so Rev squatted down with her forearms on her knees. She flicked a hand at the goblin in the center and Bastard flew off her shoulder and landed on the goblin's bald head.

"Tell me what I want to know, or he chews your ears off," Rev growled at him. "Slowly."

Bastard called, "Kill! Kill! Kill!" from the goblin's head and laughed.

"Where is your captain?" Rev asked.

"In the cabin," the goblin squeaked.

"Fore or aft?"

The goblin panicked and looked confused. "Aft."

"Do you have any prisoners?" Bastard flapped his wings and the goblin struggled in his ropes.

"Aye, in the captain's quarters! Just don't kill me!"

"No," Rev said. "I'll leave that to Elgoth."

Elgoth grinned and drew his blade.

Just then the door in front of them boomed open. "Get out there!" shouted a crackling voice. Two goblins ran out, but Rev and Triton took them out in one strike.

Elgoth kicked down the door, and inside a cramped cabin with a single bed, they saw an unusually large goblin with two bug bears.

Suddenly it felt like the gates of hell broke loose. Elgoth's blade flung away from in. The bug bears started glowing and Ruanea's magic missiles flew into the room. Rev leapt up on the bed, gutting one of the bugbears with her cutlass then cutting his artery, so that blood sprayed over One-Eye as the bugbear fell to the ground.

Fitzmina flew up to the goblin captain, and he turned to her, smashing her with an axe. She turned to dust as Elgoth screamed. He dodged past cutting blades and slashed One Eye across the chest. "I am the only one allowed to kill her!" he screamed, furious at the loss of his skull companion.

Triton caught the other bugbear with his trident, pinning him to the wall just as Merantha blasted him. His body left a streak against the boards as his body slid toward One-Eye. Elgoth shouted and green flames ignited along the edge of his sword. They engulfed One-Eye, then leapt to the flying bug bear and he burst, his guts rupturing and sizzling in the fire at once.

There was a commotion behind them as Borassos shouted from the hold. Rev saw the tied-up goblins shake free from the ropes and run through the other door. Borassos called down flames on One-Eye as Rev stabbed him with her cutlass, but as she turned, the large goblin roared. That's when Rev noticed he actually had two eyes. He came at her with a brutal attack cutting her through her thigh and stabbing her in the ribs.

"Get away from my first mate!" A squeaky voice called from behind them. Rev collapsed against the wall as she saw a short and fat goblin with a staff and an eye patch, barge out of the door behind Borassos. He charged forward, barreling into Borassos, then bouncing off him and onto the pitched floor. His little green legs scrambled in the air as he tried to right himself.

Elgoth stabbed the large goblin who fell dead to the floor. "That is for Fitzmina!" he called, then charged out of the room into the hold. Ruanea, Triton and Merantha followed him. Rev winced as the pain in her thigh flared. She looked at the bulkhead and wondered if Callie and Milo were behind it. She was wounded.

The fight wasn't over, she had to protect her friends.

Ruanea shot a dart of acid at the goblin and it hit him in the good eye. He howled and swiped at it, then blinked it open. It looked mildly irritated.

Rev limped into the hold and moved in next to Borassos. "You're not going to escape us alive, Blinky. What a pathetic way for a captain to die. Your ship isn't even in the water. It's lying on a beach like a dead and bloated whale. The bones of its carcass will rot here along with yours."

Fear came over the loathsome little creature, and the three goblins that they had tied up ran out into the hold. Rev dodged one as he stabbed at her, but the other one knifed her in her calf.

Elgoth moved close to her side and hit one of the goblins with his flaming blade, while the other caught on fire. Ruanea pushed forward with fire burning on her hands, and she threw the flames forward, until they engulfed One-Eye. The panicked goblin captain swirled the staff and glowing missiles shot out, hitting Ruanea and Merantha, then he ran back into his cabin and they heard a bar scrape over the door.

"Stand back!" Merantha pushed her hands together and blasted the door. Ruanea then shot ice at it. Finally, Triton bashed it with the heel of his trident, and it crashed open.

"Magic is useless," Elgoth commented. "You just need a stick."

"Look at the poor little rat in a hole," Rev said to the goblin. His singed skin was black with charred smears of ash. "Death is coming for you."

Borassos called out a prayer, and One-Eye stiffened and froze in place.

"Vengeance!" Elgoth shouted, raising his blade.

"Elgoth, no! We need to ask him about the rune," Rev tried to reach the elf, but it was too late. He stabbed One-Eye mercilessly through the heart, and the goblin captain died.

Just then a loud wail came from behind them. It sounded like the dying scream of a wounded animal.

Rev's gut dropped as her heart suddenly raced. They all ran to the back of the ship. Ruanea pulled the dead bodies of the goblin and bug bear out of the way, then opened the bulkhead.

Milo thrashed against his chains. "Callie, Callie love, no! They're here. We've been rescued. Don't leave me!" He screamed.

Horror came over her as Rev looked at the broken body of the once vibrant and loving halfling hanging lifeless from her bloody chains. They were too late.

Milo's eyes were wild and broken as Ruanea unlatched his chains. He pushed her away and unshackled the dead body of his wife, then collapsed, holding her head to his heart. "Don't Callie, no. I can't do it. I can't live without you." Guttural broken sobs wracked him as Merantha bent down and touched him with glowing hands. Bastard had been perched on one of the barrels. At hearing Milo's voice, he flew into the room, and waddled up to the halflings. He cuddled against Callie's foot as Milo stroked her hair blood-stained hair and begged her to come back.

"I love you," he sobbed, kissing her on the forehead. "Callie, you're my whole life. I love you so much. I can't do this without you. Come back to me. Please."

Rev felt a pain in her heart far sharper and more brutal than the bleeding wounds on her body. She had seen the broken look in Milo's eyes before. Her mother had that look after they had escaped the raid that had killed her father.

"We have to get out of here," Triton warned. "Quickly."

"Just leave me," Milo cried. He buried his face against his wife's chest. "Let me die here with her."

Borassos hung his head and muttered a quiet prayer as Elgoth nailed a spike into One-Eye's dead skull. Then he severed the head from its body and tucked it in his bag.

Merantha and Ruanea gently pulled Milo away from Callie's body. He sobbed so hard he couldn't breathe. Rev took the blanket from the bed and wrapped the halfling woman in it. "We won't leave her behind," she promised the broken man. She would carry Callie herself.

Together they managed to climb back out of the hold, and down off the ship. The bodies of goblins and half-orcs littered the beach, but on the hills above, groups of fighters from the other clans were running down the hill to join the fight.

Rev stumbled, and Ruanea helped steady her as she carried Callie in the blanket. The old woman felt like a sleeping child in her arms as they climbed up the trail and tried to stay hidden through sparse woods on the hillside. It was the heaviest burden she had ever had to bear. Bastard had crawled down and hunkered on the blanket over Callie's still heart. He made a soft and sad cooing sound as they ran in through the large door to War Paint.

Rev felt her legs go out from under her. Merantha took Callie from her arms as Silvereye rushed up to them. He seemed elated to see Milo, but as he turned to her, and the bundle now in Merantha's arms, his face fell. "Dear gods, no."

Borassos took Milo over to a table in the corner while Merantha spoke with Ott the smuggler.

"Rev, my girl." Silvey offered her an arm and she leaned on him. "Are you alright."

"No," she admitted as Bastard crawled onto Silvey's shoulder. "I will never forgive myself for this."

He let out a heavy sigh. "I abandoned the Tortoise when I heard about the fate of the Northwind. I traced One-Eye here through my smuggling contacts. I arrived here only a few hours before you did, and since I know Stabhard well, I encouraged a raid hoping to free them. I'm so sorry. I guess we were too late."

Rev pulled away from him. The truth was, they hadn't been too late. She could have saved Callie. She'd had the chance. Her throat tightened, and she couldn't say another word.

Her mind was filled with memories; Callie's laughter as Bastard spilled Milo's drinks during the Sundowners on the Northwind, her motherly smile and no-nonsense adoration for her husband, the way Callie would look out at the horizon while the wind blew through her graying hair on the deck of the Northwind. She would smile like she understood some great mystery of the world that couldn't be expressed in words. She was good. She was kind. And now she was gone.

Milo sat alone, drinking deeply from a mug of orc grog that was nearly the size of his head. Rev couldn't help thinking that it would have been better if he were the one to succumb to his injuries instead of her. She knew Callie would have be heartbroken, but she would have continued on. Milo's sunken face looked as if he now lived in her grave. The pain in Rev's leg and side nearly overcame her. She fell into a seat next to him. "Milo, I'm so sorry," she admitted, feeling her chest tighten like ropes on a cleat around her heart.

"We didn't think anyone would come," he said, his voice hollow and broken. He took another drink.

"They attacked the Northwind twice," Rev said. "Do you know why?" There had to be a reason for this cruelty. Some purpose for this loss.

"I didn't at first," he admitted slowly, his words slurring. "One-Eye kept shouting about a shard. I didn't know what he meant. It was only after he tortured us, that Callie broke. She told him where it was hidden. He had been hunting her all this time to find this thing. I didn't know. I never would have never set to sea with her if I did. I would have taken her someplace safe." Tears spilled over his cheeks. "I would have locked her in a tower if I could. She never would have heard of it. She loved the sea."

"Do you know where this shard is?" Rev asked.

He nodded. "I can't speak of it here."

Rev placed a hand on his shoulder, and he broke once more in shaking sobs. "How am I going to live without her?" he cried. "How will I sleep without her there?"

Merantha came up to her and she moved away to give Milo some privacy. "I have taken the body and cared for it in the cellar. We should bring it to the ship tomorrow. We can stay the night here. We will be safe. Ott had an idea about how to smuggle the hand axes while we were below, but that can wait until morning. Do you need aid?"

Rev looked at her blood-soaked clothing. "I'll take care of it myself. Thank you, Merantha."

She gave Milo a sympathetic look. "I never met her, but I can tell he loved her very much."

"Yes," Rev said. "He did."

Rev found her way to the sparse room that Merantha had secured for them. She left Triton discussing matters with Stabhard, Borassos was looking after Milo with Silvereye's help. Elgoth chose to sit in the corner smoking his magic pipe and watching the moment he ended One-Eye's life over and over in the smoke. Rev just wanted to be alone.

Bastard perched on the post of the bed, still sadly cooing while Rev bathed and bandaged her wounds. She tried to sleep, but couldn't, so she sat on the edge of the bed near a window that was nothing more than an arrow slit in the thick stone wall. Breathing deep, she let her mind wander.

Her thoughts came back around to a single moment, over and over. Wounded with the battle raging in the hold, she focused on the moment she looked at the bulkhead. In her mind, she pulled away the dead bodies and opened the panel, finding both halflings there, clinging to life before it was too late. She shouted for Merantha, and she healed Callie and Milo both. Then Rev defended the couple until the others killed One-Eye. They brought both of them back to safety here. And a wounded Callie fussed over Milo, while simultaneously aggravating him with her attention and care. They would have raised drinks to the halflings at a joyous Sundowner aboard the Ghost, and laughed together, planning for a victorious return to Saltmarsh.

That's how it should have been. She should have turned right instead of left. She could have saved Callie's life. She'd had the chance.

The vision turned to the sight of Milo holding his dead wife to his chest as he cried out in utter despair.

Rev let out a pained sob.

She was disoriented for a moment until a single flare of light broke the darkness. Ruanea lit a candle near the other bed.

"I could have saved her," Rev said. "I had the chance, and I didn't take it. It's my fault she's dead."

Ruanea poured a cup of strong-smelling tea. "You are feeling the pain of those who are left behind. It is a dangerous sort of guilt."

"How would you know?" Rev snapped at the other elf.

Ruanea glared at her. "I already told you once. All my family for generations had been healers. I was content with it, and loved my studies, my family, our sanctuary. It was beautiful, a place of peace. I can still see the way the sunlight shone through the leaves of the grove and hear the water of the fountains trickling like music when things fall quiet in my mind."

Rev winced as the throbbing pain in her leg spiked. She stretched it out, and Ruanea dug in her bag, pulling out a small sack of herbs. She made a paste then sat on the bed next to Rev. Her weight shifted the ropes on the pallet beneath them, pushing them close together. Without a word, Ruanea gently unwound the bandage from Rev's thigh. Rev focused on the way the candlelight shone on the copper streaks in the elf's dark hair as the elf's fingertips brushed softly over her skin.

"I had a baby brother," she said, focused on Rev's wound. "He wasn't more than eleven years old. He used to beg me to do magic for play, and I would refuse, telling him that magic was serious study, and not to be used for frivolity, so we played games of logic instead. He was just like me, curious, intelligent. I wanted to study everything in our archives, but father wouldn't let me. He said some knowledge was too dangerous, and I was still young."

Ruanea wrapped a clean bandage over Rev's thigh. It was an oddly intimate task. "It was a beautiful day when he came, a man seeking healing. He wore a dark cloak and a medallion with a rune, but I can't remember exactly. We had no reason to fear. I couldn't focus on my meditation that night, so I had taken my spell book out into the courtyard to study. Something felt wrong. That's when I saw him, the man. He was leaving the archives, holding a box of something, I don't know what. I shouted at him to stop. The moment he raised his arms, seemed as if time slowed. I knew what he was about to do, and I couldn't stop it. I had no weapons, no way to attack. I only knew how to heal. The archives exploded behind me. My parents, my little brother, they were all meditating in the rooms above. None of them survived. If I had known aggressive magic. I could have stopped him. I could have saved them."

Ruanea's hands turned ice cold and she pressed them to Rev's wounds, soothing them. "I'm sorry, Ruanea," Rev said. She knew how it felt to be helpless in a desperate moment, too.

Ruanea nodded. Her gold-green eyes burned bright in the candlelight. "I will not forget today," she said. "If a goblin crosses my path, they will receive no quarter from me. I will not hesitate, and I will not let them escape me." Ruanea moved to the wound on Rev's ribs, her hands gentle and sure as they circled Rev's waist and retreated, again and again in a strange teasing dance, unwinding her bandages. "They have proven to be creatures with no kindness or mercy. I will show them none."

"Does this guilt ever ease?" Rev asked as she hissed in a breath when Ruanea pulled the sloppy dressing off her bare waist.

The elf shook her head. "It changes with time, but it does not leave you." She pressed her salve against the gash, her hand still cool. "It heartens me that your instincts told you to stay by our sides. That is true loyalty, and I appreciate it, though I am sorry for the cost."

Rev nodded. "Can you do me a favor?" Rev asked as Ruanea wrapped a long bandage around her waist, leaning close every time she passed the cloth behind Rev's back. She could smell the sunshine and herbs that clung to Ruanea's skin. The elf simply waited in silence for Rev to continue. "If I am ever foolish enough to fall in love. Please kill me." Rev never wanted to bear the pain or burden that her mother had carried, or that Milo bore now.

Ruanea actually smiled, then Rev hissed as the bandage pulled tight. "Is that why you feel an attraction for Elgoth?" she asked raising an eyebrow. "Because he is a man who will never love you." She poured a cup of tea and handed it to Rev. Then she stood and walked to the door. She turned and gave Rev a look that wasn't as hard or cold as usual. "You have a soft heart, Revenge. Hold on to it, if you can."

The elf left, and Rev hugged her knees as the light of dawn peeked through the arrow slit. As the sun rose on the first day that Milo would have to bear without his beloved Callie, Rev hung her head and cried, taking in the man's grief as her own as a penance. She would never let herself know love as deep and as awful as this.

About an hour later, they all gathered near the bar to hear Merantha's plan. Rev felt raw, like her heart had been flayed open as she listened.

"There are several coffins down in the cellars," Merantha explained. "We are going to have a procession to the ship. We can carry Callie out as we go, but the half-orcs will follow carrying empty coffins. Then we can load the coffins with the axes and have a second procession back."

"Won't someone notice that we are returning the dead to where we started?" Borassos asked.

"They haven't seen too many wakes in this town," Merantha answered. "Hopefully they won't notice anything amiss."

Their party was somber, and the casket felt heavy as they carried Callie to the Sea Ghost. Silvereye helped Milo follow behind her, and Rev was glad none of the other clans paid attention to their grim processional. Whale helped Silvey and Milo cross the gangplank, and Rev was relieved to have them both safely aboard the Ghost. The crew understood something terrible had happened and worked quickly at her strange orders to load the axes into the caskets without question.

As they paraded back through the street, the town felt still, subdued by the violence from the day before. From the shadowy entrance to the Spider Lair fort directly across from the quiet refuge of Yellow Dancer, tall and slender figures watched them, their dark faces blending with the shadows, but their white hair shining like the webs of their clan's name.

**Commentary: This session killed me. I was distraught all weekend, and this was the moment I realized that D&D can be a very dangerous game for me. I grieved Callie, and I still blame myself for her death. I had a moment where I had to choose, stay with the fight, or check the bulkhead. I knew Milo and Callie were behind it. I was wounded, and it was crowded fighting conditions that didn't play to my advantage. I almost decided to check the bulkhead, but I stayed in the fight instead. I didn't know the DM was rolling death saves the whole time. Callie lost her last save on the final round of our battle. All of us were deeply upset about it. Elgoth's player was a little more resigned to, this is how the game goes, but the rest of us had a hard time that week. **


	14. Chapter 14

Dungeons & Dragons/Saltmarsh

Episode 14

Rev held her breath as they passed between the drow and goblin forts. She carried a coffin full of hand axes with Stabhard, while Borassos and Triton carried a coffin in front of them, and Merantha, Ruanea, and Ott carried one behind. Elgoth and Orion had the rear.

For all that this was Ott's plan, he didn't seem to stick to it very well. They were supposed to be somber, but he kept asking Merantha which ports she frequented most often and bragging about his prowess in battle.

Genotta shifted the weight of the coffin between them and whispered to Rev. "The drow are up to something. The goblins are weak, but in displaying these coffins, they might think we are weak with casualties as well."

They hadn't thought through that part of the plan. "Who will they attack?" Rev asked. They were exposed in the street, but Genotta Stabhard marched with his half-orcs. One-Eye's head rested in Elgoth's sack.

"I'm not sure they have decided yet," Stabhard admitted.

Just then Borassos and Triton looked up. A lavender mist had formed on the roof of Spider Lair, and one of the drow disappeared into it. He briefly appeared directly above them stepping from a swirl of dark smoke, and Rev braced for the dark elf to fall on their party, but with an effortless hop, he disappeared into purple mist in thin air, and reappeared on the roof of Yellow Dancer. The drow unsheathed a long blade that shone like moonlight and lopped the head off the nearest goblin.

"I guess they've made their choice," Rev whispered as more drow stepped off the roof through the purple mists, hopped in midair above them, then invaded the Yellow Dancer stronghold. It looked unlikely that a single goblin would make it out.

"Hurry," Genotta urged. Triton and Borassos had already gotten the message, but Ott and Merantha dragged behind, along with Elgoth and Orion. As the cries of the dying goblins reached a crescendo, they managed to bring all the coffins inside War Paint and shut the door.

Genotta nodded to a half-elf with a thick dark beard, and several piercings in one of his ears. The orcish leader gave him a sack of gold. "You don't need to count. Nord already has. Deepsea will get his money, and here is your share." He handed Rev a sack, and she weighed it in her palm. It felt right and time seemed of the essence.

"If you want to leave, now is the time, while the drow and goblins are distracted. We have shown weakness in the street. Any one of the other clans could choose to raid War Paint at any moment. They will have a surprise waiting for them." He kicked open a coffin and pulled out one of the hand axes, flipped it, and caught it effortlessly by the handle. "It would be a pleasure to watch you fight," he said with a suggestive lilt in his voice. A gleam lit his dark eyes. He switched to orcish. "I have no doubt you handle a blade well. The fight could go all night, and you would be welcome in my quarters after."

Rev placed a hand on his rough cheek tracing the line of his high cheekbone with her thumb and feeling the swell of his tusks under the skin of his squared jaw. Then she punched him in the face, hard.

The bar fell still.

The surprise blow twisted him around, and as he turned back to her, he brought a hand to his cheek. His black eyes glittered and he bellowed a laugh. "Now I _know_ I like you, Captain Blackwind."

"My name is Revenge," she said in orcish and gave him a friendly smile. "And while I appreciate the offer, we are leaving now. May you be alive next time we meet," she said offering him her hand. He kissed the back like a courtly gentleman. Then motioned to his clan to prepare for battle.

Stabhard watched her go, his dark gaze burning into her as they pushed out of the door. As soon as they were on the street, the door shut behind them, and the bar slid into place with a heavy thud.

She glanced at the others. "Run!"

They sprinted down the road as the battle between the drow and the goblins became fierce. As they reached their berth in the docks, Rev was surprised that the ship had already been prepared to leave the port. Her men lowered the chain as they ran up the gangplank. Milo stomped around the deck with his peg-leg thumping on the deck of the Sea Ghost as it always had aboard the Northwind.

Her men instinctively obeyed him as he unfurled the sail and managed to manipulate the wind into pulling the ship out of the narrow dock without getting so much as a scratch on the hull. They would have had to warp the anchor to work the ship back otherwise, which would have taken at least an hour, and might have gotten them killed as more and more of Brim Stone's residents spilled into the streets looking for trouble.

Milo grabbed the helm and expertly turned the ship, putting Brim Stone to their wake, and racing the waves out into the open sea. The entire crew looked relieved. Milo turned to her. "I know she's your ship, Rev."

Rev raised a hand. "I'm glad to have your aid, Milo," she answered. It was probably best if he kept busy, and she was not going to rebuff the expertise of a master sailor. She looked around the deck and noticed someone was missing.

"Whale!" she shouted. The barrel-chested sailor looked abashed as he approached. "Where is Silvereye?"

He pulled the rag off his bald head. "I'm sorry, Captain. He said he had business still, and not to worry about him."

Rev ran a hand over her face. There was nothing to do about it now, and the old sailor was a consummate survivor. "Very well," she said. "Make preparations. We have a funeral to attend to at sundown."

"Aye, aye, Captain," Whale said with a stiff salute.

That evening, the sun put on a show as its golden light glittered on the surface of a dark and calm sea. The clouds above glowed with pink, orange, and fiery yellow hailing the sun as it made its trek to the far side of oblivion.

Whale assembled the crew, who stood in solemn attention at the rail. Several had wet hair, and Rev suspected Whale made them wash. A tiny coffin rested on the long plank, draped in a white cloth. Rev tucked one of Bastard's feathers underneath it before she took her place with the others.

Milo stood rigid, with his hands clenched in front of him and his head stiffly bowed.

Whale stepped up beside the coffin. His bald head shone in the dying light as he lifted his chin in a regal manner and spoke.

"We are all of the sea," he said. "And we know the harsh way of life and loss. To understand the fleeting blessing that is life, we must face the endless darkness of death."

He paused. Wee Fingers shifted his feet.

"The hardest thing to bear is being left behind," Whale continued. "For we still feel all the love we ever did for those that have gone on without us. That love feels unmoored in our hearts, and we grieve with terrible pain, those that are no longer beside us.

"But that love is not in vain. We feel it and live by it in spite of the eternal space between us. Each day we are parted, the sun carries our love beyond this world to the far horizon. And on the day that we cross that final threshold, we will find those we lost standing on a golden shore, holding all the love the sun has brought to them, through all the days we have been parted. On that day, we will be home."

Rev felt a swell of pain and pride fill her heart as Milo's hands shook. She didn't think he was breathing.

Whale continued, "And so, Callie, may the sea that once carried you in life, embrace you now, and bring you to that golden shore."

Thirsty Patches, and the ship cook, Ol' Salt, took their places on either side of the plank.

Rev took a deep breath and sang a soulful lament that caught on the wind until felt like it reached out beyond the horizon. Her voice no longer came from her, instead it felt as if it came from some place far beyond her and was only using her in that perfect moment to make something magical.

As her crew tipped the plank, the coffin slid into the water, touching the long path of golden light the sun painted on the sea, leading to the ends of the world. Callie slipped beneath the waves without a splash, embraced by the sea that she loved so much.

Rev heard a smack as the crew knocked the bung out of a large barrel of rum. On top of that, Whale popped the cork on her finest bottle of wine. Rev gladly lifted a glass and handed it to Milo. Bastard crawled down her arm and onto his shoulder. He didn't try to tip the halfling's glass once as they toasted Callie's memory.

Rev drank hard, along with her crew. Milo never said a word, and Rev suspected that he was doing everything in his power not to collapse, and the moment he let a single word loose, it would be all over.

She respected his stoicism, and let him be, even though Bastard had decided Milo's shoulder was his perch for the evening. He even preened Milo's hair.

It was well into the night, and they were very well into their cups, when Milo stepped up to the rail beside her. Rev sat on the deck and rested her head back against the rail, staring up at the bright stars.

"I want to thank you, Rev," he said, crossing his arms and staring west toward the horizon. "This had been the hardest thing I've had to endure. You sailed with us the longest, and I know you like to think yourself a hardened rogue, but you have the heart of a bard."

Rev, lifted her head, felt a bit dizzy, then let it fall back down on the rail. "I wish I did not. This would be a lot easier if I didn't feel so deeply."

Milo turned to her. "Nonsense. If I had it all to do over, I'd do it again." Then he kissed the pad of his thumb and pressed it between Rev's eyes.

She sat up "What was that?" she asked.

"A sailor's curse," Milo said with a smile.

Rev violently rubbed the bridge of her nose as Elgoth, Borassos, and Ruanea came toward them. Milo nodded, happy to see their little crew still together.

"Callie was the best of us," he admitted. "I liked to pretend I was the captain, but in truth, she was my lodestone, my northern star. We have to go back to Saltmarsh. Callie was a part of the real council there. They have to know of her passing right away."

"The real council?" Ruanea asked.

"Saltmarsh holds secrets, terrible deep secrets. Callie was one of four in Saltmarsh who knew the true nature of things," Milo said in an ominous tone. "They are the real power. Everything else is just politics. Now Callie is gone, and Saltmarsh is in grave danger."

He looked into his empty cup. "I think it's time to get some sleep," he said. He lifted Bastard off his shoulder and placed him on the rail as Triton and Merantha came over to them, then the old halfling retreated to the small bed they had set up for him in Ruanea's quarters.

"What was that about?" Triton asked. "He said something about the council in Saltmarsh?"

"We've met the council," Merantha added. "Callie wasn't a member."

Rev used the rail to pull herself to her feet, then had to lean against it to stand straight. "Not that council," she slurred. "Apparently, there's a council that keeps a dangerous secret of Saltmarsh hidden. They probably have something to do with these shards. They would be old Saltmarsh. If I had to take a guess, I would bet Ferrin, Xendros, and probably Eda are the other members, and it looks like we are now twisted up in it too." She slung her head around. "Lucky us."

"Best get some sleep then," Triton said as he offered Rev an arm. She took it gladly and he helped her cross the deck to her quarters. She collapsed in her bunk and slept like the dead.

The next morning, she woke with a screaming hangover. Some sort of commotion was happening on the deck, and she buckled her sword belt over her rumpled clothing before stepping outside. The bright sunlight pierced her eyes, and she doubled over as her head pounded.

Whale stepped up beside her with a mug. "Drink it. Thirsty Patches insists, Captain."

Rev took a gulp of the bitter liquid and almost spit it back out. "What is this?" she choked.

"Cure for a hangover," Whale pushed the mug back toward her. "Trust me, it works."

Rev sipped it a little more slowly and winced, but her head did feel clearer already. She looked out at the commotion at the bow. Most of the crew leaned over the rail, shouting and poking at something with a long pole.

She crossed the ship and joined them. "What is going on?" she asked, then she peered over the rail to see a large red octopus clinging to the mermaid figurehead.

"He won't drop back down into the water, Captain," the sailor named Frog said. He blinked his buggy eyes and placed his hands on his squat hips.

"Maybe Triton can talk to him," Rev said. Wee Fingers ran off to find the sea elf. Triton emerged from below decks looking as alert and clear-headed as ever. Of course he was. Rev took another drink of Patches's brew while Triton peered over the rail.

"Can you get him to leave?" Wee Fingers asked.

"I will try," Triton said. Then he began making strange noises and hand motions. All of the crew took a step back as he gesticulated wildly. The octopus raised a single tentacle in a way that mimicked a rude gesture. Triton stopped moving and blinked. "He just called me an idiot."

Then the octopus climbed closer, its mantle puffing as if aggravated. It waved its tentacles, and Triton watched it closely. "Oh, he comes with a message from my king."

"What does he say?" Ruanea asked. She too, looked as calm and collected as always. Rev was beginning to think that full-blooded elves weren't any fun.

Triton continued to watch the octopus wave to him. "My king is aware of the Sahaugin threat, and he knows they are seeking shards of some sort that have catastrophic power. He wants to gather as much information as he can about these shards and prevent the Sahaugin from obtaining them, even if that means taking them into the protection of our people. And apparently my mother must have been a rock, because I am as dense as one." Triton held a hand up. "Wait, that last part was strictly from the octopus."

The octopus let go of the figurehead and fell into the waves, holding his tentacles up out of the water in repeated rude gestures to Triton, who looked taken aback.

"Well that was uncalled for," Triton complained.

"Tell him his mother was a squid," Elgoth suggested. "Your mother was a squid!" Elgoth shouted over the rail.

Ruanea, looking very peeved, faced Triton. "I agree with the octopus." She did a fair impersonation of his loud clicks and whistles, as well as his wild gesticulations. "Did I just call you a nitwit?"

"Your accent is terrible." He flipped a tangled braid of his green hair over his shoulder and climbed back down the ladder to the main.

Rev took another drink from her mug to hide her laughter as Bastard flew to her shoulder. She offered him some, and he dropped his head deep into the cup. She liked her friends. She was glad to have them.

Milo took the helm again that day. Rev let him, watching in sheer admiration as he sailed the Ghost as if it was an extension of his soul. They made whipping time over the calm seas, and if they could keep the pace up, they would reach Saltmarsh in a third of the time that they would have otherwise. She wanted to be as good at the helm as he was, but she was young. Practice and time. Both her mother and her father had emphasized that lesson, her mother with the blade, and her father with a song.

Practice and time. She was glad to be able to learn from Milo in a way that she hadn't appreciated it before, when she was just a crewman aboard the Northwind. Thankfully, the crew understood the situation and showed no signs of lack of faith or disrespect toward her with Milo aboard. If anything, they were impressed that she previously sailed with a master.

That night, Rev awoke to the alarm. As she rushed out of her cabin, the problem was immediately clear. Four large tentacles criss-crossed the deck.

"You had to go and insult its mother!" Merantha shouted to Elgoth. The elf just shrugged as he drew his sword. Ruanea spread her webs over the deck, catching two of the tentacles then they all attacked the beast grappling with the ship. Rev drew her blades and started cutting, while the Ruanea and Merantha threw spells over the deck. At one point, Elgoth set the web on fire with his magic blade, and then threw up a magical shield when the nearest tentacle swung toward him.

After severing one tentacle, and a couple of blasts and shots to the creature's head, the octopus decided to let go of the ship and swim away.

They reached Saltmarsh without further incident, and Milo brought the ship to the docks with a gentle hand. They didn't even hit the bumpers as the ship settled to rest. Rev gave the crew leave, and they were overjoyed to take it after the stress of Brim Stone. Whale chose to stay aboard with Milo, who didn't want to leave the ship just yet.

Rev took the sack of gold from Davey Deepsea and set out to find Anders. The others came with her, and she was glad for their solidarity. They found him in the council chambers with Skerrin and a pair of his usual admirers. He swept his hair off her forehead and gave them a handsome smile as he came forward with his arms outstretched. "I hope to hear good news," he declared.

"I cannot say we have brought it," Rev responded. He deflated, looking concerned. "We were able to rescue Milo from the goblin pirate, One-Eye, but Callie sadly has perished."

Anders looked confused. Skerrin stiffened behind him. He whispered something to Anders. Anders still looked puzzled but put on an appropriately somber face. "Ah yes, the halfling merchant trader. How very sad. But about the shipment of fish?"

"All was well," Rev said, irritated with the young man. Once again, she felt decades older than him as she tossed him his money. "Go ahead and count it. I've taken our share. We're done here."

"Thank you, captain. I hope we can do business again," he said, as he stood straighter and lifted his chin in an attempt to seem important.

Rev turned to leave, but before she did, she noticed Skerrin run a weary hand over his face. She would have to watch the butler closely.

While Anders didn't seem to care about Callie, it was clear the rest of the Saltmarsh did. They all gathered at the Salty Fish to drink to her honor and tell old stories. The longer Rev lingered, the more she realized every sailor in Saltmarsh had a Callie story of some sort. Old men told stories of Callie mothering them and kissing their boo-boos when they fell on the docks and scraped their knees as children, and she began to wonder just how old Callie was. It was a warm and heartfelt night that seemed to bring everyone a measure of peace.

Rev almost felt back to her old self the next morning as Merantha helped her mend her torn and bloodied clothing.

Elgoth came down the stairs with a newly reanimated Fitzmina now possessing the skull of the dead One-Eye. "No complaining, witch. You're lucky I brought you back at all," he grumbled as he sat down with them. Fitzmina sulked in the corner looking at her new angular skull and sharp teeth in a grimy mirror, clearly unhappy with her new form.

Borassos went to the bar and asked Heartless about the plate mail he left in her care. She smiled at him and offered to help him fit it. "Um, sure, I guess?" he said. She took his hand and led him down into the cellar. A suggestive holler and whistles filled the bar.

Rev laughed to herself trying to imagine Borassos having anything but innocent intentions, or Heartless entertaining them. It would never happen.

"I am going to visit Xendros in her shop. I'd like you to accompany me," Ruanea said to Rev.

She nearly choked on her eggs and her face turned hot. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Nonsense. You have dealt with her once already. You can help me determine if she is being fair in her negotiations according to your experience," Ruanea said, standing at the table.

Rev's heart furiously pounded in her chest. There was nothing fair about how Xendros chose to negotiate with her. She swallowed a lump of egg. "Fine," she said as her stomach did a little excited flip. Maybe it would be entertaining to watch Xendros try to flirt with Ruanea instead of her. Rev imagined that would be something like volcanic lava meeting an icy sea. "I wanted to retrieve some rose petals anyway."

The tide was in, making for a pleasant walk along the boardwalks over the marshes and up the hill to the house. They heard the sound of saws cutting through lumber and men shouting to one another as they arrived at the old garden gate. It had been taken down, and a pair of sailors worked on rebuilding the wall, while a few more replaced boards on the upper stories of the house while scraping and whitewashing the building. As they passed the impressive rose bush, Bastard flew off her shoulder and stuck his head down the hole. No weasels came out to fight him, but he growled with his hackles up and paced in front of the old burrow. Rev grabbed a few handfuls of rose petals as they followed a new stone path around the house to the back door where they had first entered the place.

The room had been transformed. Newly painted with attractive wainscoting, a sign read _Saltmarsh Legacy Museum. _No booming voice warned them of their impending death, but somehow Rev felt even more nervous than she had the first time they had entered this room. She did find it amusing that the trapdoor that led down to the smuggler's hole ended up right behind the new counter that split the room. She had no doubt that it would be easy for Xendros to sneak things down through the caves in secret from here. Rev inspected the paintings hung on the walls. They were from various points in Saltmarsh's history. Some had been painted before the docks had been built. As she circled the room, she could trace the growth of Saltmarsh. In each painting, the Old Shark Fin Bridge stood out as the focus and centerpiece of the image. It was the one thing that never changed.

"Welcome," a sultry voice greeted as Rev heard a door softly close. "I trust you are looking for something of value?"

Rev didn't want to turn around, she focused intently on the painting in front of her, but as Captain Xendros passed her, she felt the tip of the Tiefling's tail trace up the back of her leg, and she shuddered. She spun around to see Xendros standing tall and greeting Ruanea very formally. Her inky black hair gleamed as she slowly drew it over her shoulder. She glanced at Rev, and her yellow eyes burned with molten fire. She gave Rev a knowing smile and a wink, then cooled her expression again as she faced Ruanea.

"What magical wares do you have to offer," Ruanea said, her voice as unaffected and dispassionate as ever.

Xendros looked like a statue of virtue as she attended to the wizard. "You are a woman of great learning. My humble shop can only deal in items that I find of value from time to time. I hope I have something that a wizard of your caliber would find of worth. Unfortunately, I only have potions, though some of them offer rare effects."

Xendros' voice was cool until she reached the words 'rare effects.' She glanced at Rev again, and Rev felt like the Tiefling had the ability to light fire with her stare alone.

Rev slowly turned to watch as Xendros showed Ruanea various vials. The first few were healing potions, and Rev almost felt in control of herself until Xendros pulled out a small glass jar with a dark substance within. Her body stayed facing Ruanea, but the Teifling's burning eyes found her, and shot straight through Rev.

"And this is an oil of slipperiness," Xendros said, her voice dropping lower into a dusky tone. "Just a few drops, and the skin becomes so slick that any object slides effortlessly against it." Her voice turned breathy as those gold eyes became lethal in their intensity. Rev felt herself flush and Xendros smiled in response. Ruanea inspected the vial, unaware of the battle that was raging over the counter. "If you cover a person in this substance, grappling them becomes a challenge. Bodies slide against one another, skin against skin, until you cannot find purchase."

In that moment, Rev wanted to die. It was as if all the air had been sucked out of the room. Xendros' voice became a hum in her head as her mind twisted through unbidden fantasies of bodies sliding together. She turned back to a painting and tried to count the number of stones that formed the bridge. Rev couldn't say what other potions they spoke about. She was working too hard remembering to breathe.

Finally, Ruanea's solid voice broke through the noise in her head. "While I see the value of your wares, this is not what I was looking for," she said. "I'm sorry, but I will have to pass."

Xendros' cool voice answered. "I understand, maybe next time. And what about you, Captain Blackwind?"

Rev turned to see Xendros leaning over her counter in a seductive way. "Is there anything here that tempts you, Rev?"

It took Rev a second to compose herself. Heat like a bonfire poured through her veins. "It's time to leave."

Xendros smiled again. "Such a pity. I guess this is goodbye." She chuckled, the husky sound emanating from low in her throat. "Until I see you tonight."

Rev pushed out the door and breathed the cool sea air. She knew her face had to be nearly as red as Xendros'. She hurried around the house as Ruanea matched her pace.

"I don't see what you find so difficult about her," Ruanea stated, folding her hands crisply in front of her. "She is the consummate professional."

Rev shook her head as she realized that Ruanea was every bit as inaccessible as Elgoth, just in a different way. She whistled to Bastard, and he reluctantly left his post at the entrance to the empty weasel den. She felt better with his weight on her shoulder, but she knew there would be no accounting for her dreams that night. Maybe Elgoth was right. Sleep was a curse.

Through it all, she'd noticed that Xendros had mentioned them meeting again that night. While she wanted to think the suggestion was an inappropriate proposition, Rev realized that Xendros just revealed herself as a part of the secret council.

On their way back to the Salty Fish, Ruanea noticed a new merchant tent near the docks. She paused, and Rev was glad for it, because she wasn't entirely sure she hadn't stopped blushing yet.

"Welcome ladies!" the proprietor greeted. "So good to have you here. My name is Malfier, and I always have the rarest goods to offer from faraway lands. It is the greatest pleasure to meet you."

"And you," Ruanea said as she inspected his goods.

"Where do you hail from, Malfier?" Rev asked the colorful man.

He brightened as he spoke. "Oh, I should not burden you with my misfortunes fine lady," he said with a dramatic sweep of his arms. "I have had the worst of luck. Wandering adventurers have burned down my house! I have seen towns destroyed by monsters beyond your imagining. Everything lost in the fires! But this town. I feel I should do better here. This stone bridge behind me is very lovely and solid. I feel no ill fortune can come of me here."

Rev smiled at the trader. "I hope not," she said, though she felt a warning deep in her gut.

As they entered the Salty Fish, Borassos sat at a table with Merantha. "How does the plate mail fit?" Rev asked him.

He looked confused. "Just fine? It should be useful."

Rev smiled and shook her head as she placed Bastard on the bar. Heartless gave him a scratch on the head and poured Rev an ale.

Milo entered the Fish and ordered a drink from the bar. Heartless put a comforting hand on his, then handed him his drink. He looked a little overwhelmed. "I have never called a meeting of the council before."

Xendros was the first to arrive. She swept to the bar with a sultry glance at Rev, then ordered a drink from Heartless, and took a seat next to Milo. She leaned over to him and whispered something in his ear. He said, "Thank you, my dear," and patted her hand that had fallen on his forearm.

Ferrin was the next to arrive and order a drink. Heartless gave him something special from a flask hidden behind a plank in the back of the bar, and he carried it to the table with a smile.

So, there were three. Rev waited for Eda to show up, but to her shock and amazement, the next through the door was Eliander Fireborn.

She nearly spit out her ale. He was one of the new guard, a king's man. Why did the traditionalists of Saltmarsh trust someone so closely linked with the Keolanders?

Eliander looked uncomfortable as he found a place at the table, then snapped his fingers toward Heartless. She scowled as she abandoned her place behind the bar to take his order. He gave it to her without looking at her, then she poured his drink and carried it with the grace and dignity of a royal servant. As she placed it on the table, she gave him a crisp courtesy and said, "Is there anything else I can get for you, Mi'lord?" in a sing-song voice.

Eliander seemed to realize his mistake. "Forgive me, I have never really ordered a drink here before."

Heartless huffed and moved to the front of the building where she closed the shutters on all the windows. The pub fell dark when one last person entered.

Rev shouldn't have been surprised, but she still felt the shock as Skerrin entered the building. Heartless barred the door behind him.

Skerrin asked Heartless for a glass of water before he joined them at the table. Now that the bar was shut tight, Rev noticed Heartless pour herself a whiskey and retreat to the back room.

"So, we are all well met," Skerrin greeted. Candlelight gleamed on his spectacles. He lowered a hood from his short salt-and-pepper hair, and his angular expression turned grave. "The fate of Saltmarsh lies in our hands."

He took a seat and the rest of their party fell silent. Even Bastard contented himself to preening on the corner of the bar.

"To lose Callie is a terrible loss. For ages, we, the secret council of Saltmarsh has protected the knowledge of the shards."

Elgoth's eyes turned a funny shade of green as he stiffened. "I see a portal to the pits of hell. A great calamity rises from the deep."

Everyone stared at him, and Fitzmina shook her head.

"What?" his eyes ceased glowing as he looked at everyone at the long table.

"How do you know that?" Eliander asked.

Skerrin lifted a hand to silence him. "As the elves in your party have felt, the Shark Fin Bridge is cursed. That is because it is a giant lock, sealing a portal to the realms of deep horror. The only way to open the bridge is to assemble the seven shards. For centuries, Saltmarsh has lived in peace with this council protecting the known shards. Now it seems our enemies have discovered us."

"The shard I have been tasked to protect is safe," Xendros said.

"As is mine," Ferrin chimed in.

"And ours," Eliander stated.

"I believe mine is still secure," Skerrin said. "Though I have not checked on it in some time and cannot be certain. I shall remedy that shortly."

Milo hung his head. "The goblins knew of the existence of the shards," he admitted. "They tortured Callie and me. She revealed the location of an island not far from here."

The others gasped.

"The island holds a key to finding her shard," he said. "It remains guarded, though now its location is in peril should any find the key."

Skerrin let out a deep breath. "That is five of the shards. Two remain a mystery. Goblins know of one, and the Sahuagin are seeking shards as well. We can no longer be passive, secure in our secrets. The shards must be protected at all cost."

Eliander looked to Rev. "The town council found a crew like yours useful. We feel you can be useful again."

Rev wasn't sure she wanted to be a part of this. These secrets were too big, too deep. Callie had already died for them. Would this council seek to kill to keep their secrets when this was all done? Her parents had died for less.

"Why would you place this trust in us?" she asked Eliander.

It was Ferrin who responded. "You in deep," he said in a somber voice. "Y'uns us now."

**Commentary: As I said at the end of the last episode, I was torn up about Callie's death for a long time. I did enjoy this week's game because the intrigue in Saltmarsh deepened with the introduction of the "Secret Council." I also had a lot of fun with Ruanea's visit with Xendros. I love that NPC, she's fun to play with. The little bit with Malfiel was an inside joke between our DM, Elgoth's player, and Triton's player. He is a vendor in their original game. Apparently Elgoth's player burned his house down at some point in their last adventure, so he had a brief cameo in this one. Thanks for reading, commenting and leaving reviews. It makes the effort of posting worth it to know that people enjoy the story.**


	15. Chapter 15

Dungeons & Dragons/Saltmarsh

Episode 15

"What are you asking us to do?" Rev asked the council. She looked each of them in the eye and didn't shy away from Xendros.

Skerrin was the one who answered. "Help us secure the shards and find the two that are missing. How you proceed is up to you."

Rev looked around at her compatriots. Surprisingly, Borassos was the first to speak up. "The best way to honor Callie is to secure the shard that is now in peril due to her death."

"I agree." Rev crossed her arms. "Callie's death should not be in vain."

"I don't particularly care which shard we pursue," Triton admitted. "So long as we keep them from the Sahaugin."

Ruanea shrugged, and Merantha nodded. They all looked at Elgoth.

"That shard is on my island." It was a statement, not a question. Milo shifted in his seat. "I remember, we sought something there," Elgoth continued. "I remember the Twisted Rune, a prophecy. My fate is entwined with this."

Triton turned toward Elgoth. "I don't want to push you into old wounds, my friend."

Elgoth seemed taken aback, then uncomfortable as he said. "It is what it is."

Skerrin drank the last of his water and placed the glass on the table. "So, you will help to secure Callie's shard."

"I can take them to the island," Milo offered.

"Very well," Skerrin said. "I believe we are done here, for now." He knocked on the table, and Heartless came into the main room. She opened up the shutters and unlocked the door. One by one, the council left into the hustle and bustle of Saltmarsh, leaving their party alone around the table.

Rev went up to the bar and ordered another ale, then joined her compatriots. The conversation had switched from the uncertain adventure that awaited them. The table was giving Merantha their full attention.

"I just feel like this presence that says he is helping me, is demanding something of me now, and I'm not sure it is something I can trust," she said. Rev sat down across from her. Bastard crawled onto the table and tried to chew on the baubles on Merantha's tunic. "All it did at first, was ask me to send money, and that seemed a reasonable thing to do, but now I feel like a fish on a hook, and I can't escape it. As it gives me more and more power, I'm bound to it. Is it that way for you, Borassos?" she asked.

He shook his head. "I only offer my prayers and hope that they are answered."

"What if it asks me to do something I don't wish to do?" Merantha stared into her mug.

"If you turn evil, do you want us to kill you?" Rev asked. Merantha looked up in shock, then glared at her. "What?" Rev protested. "It's a reasonable question." She took a drink from her ale.

Triton cleared his throat. "In my kingdom, in the times of the Sahaugin wars, every so often one of the fiends would hatch a mutated, shifting, creature that looked just like a sea elf. It caused us endless distress to find and root out these, malenti, from our ranks. Evil disguised as good is very difficult to combat indeed."

Merantha paled.

"I'm not sure this is helping," Ruanea offered.

"My point is," Triton defended. "If you have evil origins, those are hard to change. It is the same with good."

Everyone looked toward Elgoth. He seemed confused by the attention. Fitzmina flew over and snapped at Bastard's tail. Her parrot squawked, and it broke the uncomfortable moment.

Borassos crossed his arms. "I wouldn't worry just yet," he said in a comforting voice. "In my experience celestials are usually good."

"But what about you, Elgoth?" she asked. "How did you become… this?" She vaguely waved her fingers at his scars and the tattooed runes on his skin.

"I do not remember the early years," he said. "Perhaps it is best if we rest," he said as he pushed up from the table. "If we are going back to the island, danger awaits us, friends." The word did not sit easily on his lips.

The next morning, the Sea Ghost set out from port early. Milo was the only one that knew the way to the island, so he had the helm. As always, the Ghost flew over the waves at his hand. He seemed happy, even whistling to himself. Elgoth leaned over to Triton and asked, "How long should it take a man to get over the death of his wife?"

Triton looked baffled.

Ol' Salt passed behind them carrying a barrel of salted pork. "Until he reaches the next port," the wizened man grumbled.

The night passed quietly, and in the morning, Rev woke to Merantha knocking on her cabin door. She came in and quietly shut the door behind her. "What is it?" Rev asked.

Merantha's dark hair still looked mussed from sleeping. "Do you remember the dream I told you about?" she said in hushed tones. Rev gestured toward the bed and she sat on it.

"The one with the handsome man with wings, that left you a book?" Rev asked, braiding one of her pale streaks in her hair.

Merantha nodded. "It happened again." She shied from Bastard, who was climbing down from the bedpost and heading toward her baubles again. Rev swept him off the bed, and he flew to the table, then pulled an apple out of the bowl and started eating it.

"What did the winged man do?" Rev asked.

Merantha flushed. "He drew me into his arms, and I felt so warm and safe for the first time in my life. His wings folded over me, surrounding me, and I felt like I lost myself. I didn't know who I was anymore, and I didn't care. I just wanted to be a part of him. He said '_salvation comes in the end_.' Then he drew away, and as he did, the tips of his wings brushed over my shoulders and neck, leaving this." She pulled her hair away from her neck revealing a necklace with a heavy crystal the color of night. "I can't bring myself to take it off. Do you think it is dangerous? And what did he mean by salvation? Why would I need salvation? Only evil things need salvation."

"I don't know," Rev admitted. "My gift is with the blade, and I am not one for religion. Ruanea might be able to help, or maybe Borassos. Come, we'll find them."

Merantha left her quarters and Rev quickly got dressed, then picked up Bastard and stepped out onto the main. She was shocked at the sight that greeted her there.

The table had been pulled out onto the main deck, and the crew had laid a feast upon it. They all looked proud of themselves, and excited by their strange gift, especially Wee Fingers. The boy's bright grin flashed as his short braids stood on ends. Rev had a bad feeling, like the crew was somehow trying to soften their parting. Did they think they were going to die on the island? Something wasn't right.

Frog pulled out the chairs, and not-so-subtly snatched a bit of food off of each plate as he did so. Whale smacked him in the back of the head as the crew shouted at him. Elgoth was the first to dive into the meal.

"I remember what happened the last time I went to this island. I will eat as much as I can now," he announced, and started shoveling food into his face. The rest of them sat down as well, though no one seemed very comfortable with this arrangement.

Merantha was the first to break the silence. "Elgoth?" He paused to stare at her with a bite of eggs halfway in his mouth. "What happened to your last crew? The people you came here with."

Elgoth lost some of his color as he slowly lowered the eggs. "They were ripped to pieces one limb at a time."

"Well that seems terrifying," Triton commented.

"But how did you come to this island?" Merantha asked.

"I was seduced by power and the cult promised me that. The lying witch, Fitzmina, led us here promising us raw magic beyond our belief. But she was an idiot. I'm sorry I didn't see it at the time, before it was too late." At his words, Fitzmina rose up off the table and seemed to glare at him. He threw a hambone at her and hit her between her eye sockets. Elgoth continued, "The wench opened a portal to a dimension of things unspeakable. The members of the Forbidden Rune thought they were strong enough to contain it. But alas, they were not. It ripped them to shreds all at once, as the lying witch ran away from the horror she had wrought. I was the only one to escape their painful fate, until the moment I ended her. Now the only thing I can remember clearly is the prophecy. _When it dies, you die._" He shuddered.

"Pleasant," Ruanea commented.

"This is clearly very difficult for you," Triton said, raising his voice slightly. "Perhaps we should–"

"So what did this portal look like?" Merantha pressed.

Elgoth now looked half as wild as the day they first met him. "I don't know!" he shouted. "I told you I don't remember, and these memories are very painful."

"Yeah, but was it a portal in the ground? Or?" Merantha gestured to him.

"There was a circle of rocks, and then tentacles, with screams of the dying and blood running in rivers." Elgoth's eyes began to glow again, and Fitzmina hid under the table.

Rev stood up. "Perhaps it is time to get going."

The crew handed them well stocked packs. Then they climbed into the jolly boat and rowed to the island. As they pulled the jolly boat up onto the sand, the sails of the Sea Ghost unfurled. The wind caught them, and the Sea Ghost began to turn away from the island.

Her heart dropped as she ran out into the low waves. They were stealing her ship. Those bastards!

Milo waved to her. "She's a beautiful ship, Rev. It's not personal. It's just business. You understand." And then her ship caught the wind and sailed away from them.

Rev saw red. Her vision turned to a haze of blood and she didn't dare speak.

"Maroon the scum!" Bastard screeched as he flapped his wings.

Oh no. Milo's fate and the fate of every sailor that betrayed her would be much worse than that. The halfling had just made a terrible mistake. He had betrayed her! She had given him her loyalty, and this was how he treated it. Yes, she felt deeply when it came to loyalty and love, but she felt just as deeply when it came to vengeance and rage. They had forgotten her name, and for that, they would pay. She would hunt them to the ends of the earth if she had to. Torment and blood awaited them. But there was nothing she could do about it now. She would have to lie in wait and plot her vengeance as soon as they were able to leave this island.

"This feels familiar," Elgoth commented as he watched the ship getting smaller and smaller on the horizon.

"What do we do now?" Merantha asked.

Borassos looked confused, and Ruanea disgusted.

Triton scratched his head. "I can send a message to my king, but we have to survive the night before I can do so. Even then, we may be beyond the reach of help."

"Rev, are you alright?" Borassos asked as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

She shrugged it off. "Don't speak to me right now." Her rage tasted like blood in her throat, and she didn't think she could say more.

Rev stormed up onto the beach and dragged the boat above the tide line. On the far edge of the beach where the sands turned to tall grasses and twisting manzanita shrubs, the aft of a shipwreck rose up out of the sands.

Ruanea shielded her eyes from the sun. "That wasn't here the last time," she commented. Her voice also sounded colder and more clipped than usual.

"Fitzmina," Elgoth shouted. "Go see what is out there."

Fitzmina flew out over the beach, and as she approached the wreck, they saw a rippling in the sand, then the glinting of something shiny. A mound rose up, and the sand cascaded off like strange, white water. One enormous claw emerged, then a second, the creature shuddered, and the last of the sand fell away from the treasures and dried seaweed clinging to the monstrous creature's back. It tucked itself into the hull of the wrecked ship, like a hermit crab tucking into a shell.

"Ooooooooh," Bastard sang from his perch on the jolly boat as the monster crustacean snapped its claws. "Her waters be warm and smooth as glaaaaaaaassssssss! But crabs do linger in the grass!"

Rev drew her sword, thankful for an outlet for her rage.

Ruanea pressed her hands together and stepped forward. And enormous ball of fire barreled from her and hit the crab. It shuttered and clacked its claws, as moisture on its shell hissed and turned to steam.

"Yes, cook him! We will eat well tonight!" Elgoth ran forward and sent out his own frosty blast of magic and Merantha hit the crustacean hard as well.

Rev caught up to Elgoth as the crab scuttled toward them. It swung one large claw at Elgoth, snapping at him. He launched over the claw, twisting and flipping in midair only to come down on his feet in an elegant cartwheel.

The other claw swiped down at Rev, and she too launched into the air and twisted her body around until her boots found the soft sand again. Elgoth gave her a strange look. "You have been watching me practice?"

Rev raised one eyebrow. "Why would I do that?"

Elgoth slashed the crab, taking off one of its legs while Ruanea blasted it with more ice. The wild elf dashed under the crab's body and came out behind it. Merantha let out a feral shout, then released a potent blast that flipped the giant crab over on its back. It fell dead, right on top of Elgoth.

Together they furiously dug through the sand to free him. As they did so, they gathered up the bits of gold and treasures that fell from the crab's back. Bastard triumphantly paced on the crab's flat underbelly with the feathers on his head proudly puffed up as if he had helped in the fight.

Rev reached Elgoth's hand as Borassos and Triton managed to push the crab off him. She pulled him out of the sand, and he coughed, then shook the sand out of his raven-wing hair. "So, we are definitely eating this, yes?"

Rev looked down, and in the sand near her boot she noticed a string of beads and shells. Curious, she picked it up. A large sky-blue stone hung from the loop. She placed it over her head, and the air around her seemed to clear of the scents of drying seaweed and dead crab leaving only the scent of a fresh clean breeze around her. Interesting. She decided to keep it on.

Something clinked and Ruanea picked up an old, sand-frosted bottle. She shook it. "There's something inside."

Borassos grabbed the bottle and broke it against the edge of the crab's shell. It shattered and a note fell out. He picked it up "It's written in Elvish."

Ruanea took the paper from him and began to read.

"_To the person who finds this letter,_

_Help! I am stranded on an island! I don't know the coordinates, but it was last inhabited by the Twisted Rune Cult. Their headquarters in Baldur's Gate should have a record of their settlement here._

_They are the only family who understands me. They will surely have record and wish to dispatch and save me!_

_Those who assist in my salvation shall get the reward due them in the end._

_Elgoth Mistwalker_

_Twisted Rune"_

Everyone turned to stare at Elgoth. He snatched the letter out of Ruanea's hand. "I did not write this. At least, I don't believe I did."

"Is it your writing?" Ruanea asked.

Elgoth seemed puzzled. "I don't know. I haven't written in a very long time." Just then Merantha found a piece of parchment sticking up out of some dry sand. Ruanea crossed over and read that one as well.

"_To the person who finds this letter,_

_I fear I am beyond help. It has been a number of months since the incident which left me alone on this island. I have received no response from the letter in a bottle I threw out to sea._

_I write this now as a journal of my own solitude._

_Only, I am not alone! There is another on this island. He is stalking me. I have yet to see him, but I have seen signs of his encampments. This can only mean that he is hiding from me. He is right to fear me!_

_Elgoth Mistwalker_

_Twisted Rune"_

Elgoth scratched his head. "I do not remember writing these letters, but I do remember that there was another here. He was dangerous and stealthy. He would stalk me on the island. I never got a good look at him."

"He's dead!" Bastard announced.

"I do not know, that he is dead," Elgoth said. His voice was beginning to take on the creepy inflection that he'd had when they first met him. "We must use caution. He was very dangerous."

Flies buzzed around the corpse of the giant crab, then a sweeping shadow passed over head, and another, and yet another. Rev looked up to see reptilian wings circling above. Long toothy beaks screeched out feeding calls as the flying lizards circled overhead. One swooped down and clawed Merantha. She released a burst of fire in retribution, then ran down the beach shouting, "I'm not going to fight stupid birds!"

Elgoth pulled his blade, lighting it with his green flames. "They are not birds!"

It seemed like both the land and sky were in constant motion as the Pteranodons swooped and screamed at them. Borassos shot one with lightning as Elgoth did a beautiful tumble through the hot sand. Triton produced what looked like a whip made of thorny vines and snapped it at the flying reptiles.

Ruanea had the worst of it as one flew down to claw her and a second tangled its claws in her hair and cloak.

Merantha stomped back up the beach with her hands on her hips. "What is wrong with you people?" Then she let loose an epic blast that tumbled several of the creatures from the sky.

Ruanea wiped the blood from beneath her nose, then froze one solid. It shattered as it hit the ground. Rev had to duck as one swooped near her, but then she twisted and feinted with her rapier only to bring her cutlass swiping down, severing one bat-like wing.

A lone survivor flew off to a different part of the island.

Elgoth cursed in the strange language he had used when they first met him. "I hate those things. They tormented me for twenty years. We must leave the beach."

They followed Elgoth up a well-worn path into the manzanita scrub and scraggly trees that formed the edges of the jungle. There they found an old fire pit. Rev noticed something white staked to a tree. She pulled it down and read the unsteady Elvish.

"_To the person who finds this letter,_

_I have decided to head into the jungle. There I can lay a trap for my antagonist. He has proven stealthier than I had originally given him credit for. But while he is very careful with remaining unseen, he is clumsy with his camp remains. He has even fashioned a type of hut!_

_I stole his food and burnt his hut to the ground! A true warrior can survive in the open._

_I will gut him when I catch him._

_Do you read this, Mystery Elf! I will gut you!_

_Elgoth Mistwalker"_

Elgoth straightened one of the stones forming the ring of the fire pit. Rev handed him the letter.

"Did you ever find this other elf in the jungle?" Merantha asked. "Do you think another cultist survived?"

"Or were you chasing yourself around the island for twenty years and burning down your own shelter?" Rev asked.

Elgoth glared at her. "The other one was real!" he insisted. "I don't remember these letters. But I remember a burned hut. Don't turn your back. He will sneak up behind you, and he will kill you if he finds you."

"I'll take my chances." Rev looked around. This wasn't a bad spot to camp, and they had no idea how long they would be on this stinking island. Bastard flew up into a scraggly tree and climbed up the bark in pursuit of a large blue beetle. "We should rest here for a bit. It seems safe enough, and apparently treacherous elves roam in the jungle."

Rev chose not to eat. They didn't know how long they would have to make their food last. Instead she pulled out Gellin Primewater's flag from her bag of holding and pulled at the stitches. The bright red background silk was perfect for her purposes. Elgoth pulled a couple of pine trees together and tied them with a rope in a pathetic attempt to make some sort of shelter.

Borassos and Merantha set out to gather wood, while Ruanea looked extremely uncomfortable. Scrunching up her nose, she sat down on a rock with a relatively flat surface.

"Don't sit on that!" Elgoth shouted at her. She jumped up as if something had bitten her. "That is my table rock. That over there is my sitting rock." He pointed to a smaller and rounder one. "You don't ever sit on your table rock or eat on your sitting rock. I do not want your hind end all over the place that I eat."

Ruanea moved closer to Rev. "If I have to spend the next twenty years on this island with him, I will become just as mad as he is."

"I give myself a week," Rev said, then returned to carefully cutting stitches from the silk with the tip of her dagger.

After an hour or two, they decided they needed to find water. Elgoth said he thought he knew the right path but warned them that the other elf went up and down that path all the time. There might be traps, and they would have to be careful. "I do not remember where all of them are." Elgoth confessed.

They formed a single file line as the path wove back toward the thick trees.

"Aha!" Elgoth shouted and pointed. He took the tip of his sword and pushed a small bush aside, revealing a pit trap with rotting and broken spikes in the bottom. "See, this is clearly the work of that other elf, since it is terrible."

They stepped carefully around the pit, doubling up on the path. The creaking sound of old ropes or vines reached their ears. Elgoth and Triton didn't see the enormous swinging log until it was too late. It plowed into them, knocking them into Borassos and Ruanea, then sweeping all four of them into the pit with a loud crash.

Rev and Merantha rushed to the edge of the pit as Rev pulled her rope out of her bag of holding. She lowered the rope, and together they helped the others out of the pit. Most of the rotting spikes had snapped beneath them, too old and rotten to do much damage.

"Perhaps that one was mine," Elgoth admitted once they were all out of the pit. "It was quite good. Or my foe is getting better."

Ruanea made a sound in her throat that sounded like a mix between an angry cat and an aggressive badger. She snatched a note off the log and read.

"_Mystery Elf,_

_You have avoided my pit fall traps! You have avoided my jungle spikes. Clever of you. But while I have not found your impaled corpse yet, it is only a matter of time._

_You think you haunt and stalk me? Fool! It is I who haunt and stalk you!"_

_E.M."_

"If you can't make imaginary friends," Rev quipped. "Try imaginary enemies."

Elgoth stepped up into her space, and she was tempted to show him that the fastest way to a man's heart was a blade through his ribs. His twilight eyes were wild, and she had no doubt that his scars weren't only on the outside. "The other one is real. You will see. I will finally end him." His voice dropped low, and as Rev felt his presence too close to her, she shivered.

Just then something clattered to the ground, and they all jumped. A skeletal head in a metal helmet rolled into their path. Bastard perched on the neck of the deceased adventurer crunching on another fat beetle. Three skeletons had been abandoned in the bushes. As they inspected the bodies, they found a cache of magical items.

Rev inspected one of the dried bones. These corpses had been on the island for a very long time, possibly at the same time as Elgoth. They seemed like a fairly strong party of adventurers. If they had fallen into the pit, who dragged them back out? By the look of their gear, most of which had magical qualities, they were not new to this. Rev had a hard time believing that they met their end in a simple spike trap. Had Elgoth killed them in his madness?

Ruanea found a magical bag just like Rev's, and dumped it out, revealing an enchanted spell book. She sat on the swinging log to inspect it. Merantha discovered a strange wand, while Elgoth found some unusual leather armor and a scimitar that glowed with a soft blue light. Borassos seemed reluctant to touch a large and ornate war hammer still lying in the hand of one of the skeletons. It too, had a crackling energy around it.

Rev pulled a leather vest off one of the skeletons. It was odd that it hadn't faded or cracked at all with time. There had to be some sort of magic to it as well.

While she donned the vest, she kept one wary eye on the edge of the jungle, and the other on Elgoth. What really happened here to drive him so mad?

**Commentary: Welcome to Elgoth's island. Milo's betrayal hit me hard. This is my first game, and I probably should have expected that, but I still remain a little pissed about it to this day. I do need to give some credit to our DM. He is endlessly creative. Everything that happens on this island he had to make up whole cloth, and he did a brilliant job. It led to some of the most fun we had, since he had a tendency to incorporate ideas from various pop culture references and memes. The giant crab was a respectful nod to Moana, one that I appreciated. The other thing that was fun about Elgoth's island, was that it gave Elgoth's player multiple opportunities to shine in his roll playing. The DM printed out actual letters to hand out and let us read. All of them were a surprise to Elgoth, and none of us knew what they would reveal next. It was a fun way to build Elgoth's history and character while we adventured on the island. Thanks again for reading!**


	16. Chapter 16

Dungeons & Dragons/Saltmarsh

Episode 16

Elgoth led the way down a path that had been heavily overgrown. They had to duck beneath vines and branches as the dense forest became thicker around them. Rev kept alert for more traps, but they didn't run into any. Elgoth also didn't seem concerned. He moved quickly through the trees without speaking, almost as if a deep part of his mind were taking him someplace without his consciousness.

They were looking for water, but Rev was confused. There was a stream near the beach. They had filled Milo's broken tank with water from the stream on the day they found Elgoth. Red fire flashed through Rev again at the memory. Milo would suffer greatly for his betrayal. An unbidden image of Callie crossing her arms and shaking her head in exasperation at her husband came to her. She wasn't sure if it was a memory, a part of her imagination, or something else. In her head she could hear Callie's voice. _Just don't kill the old fool, even if he deserves it._

"I can't make that promise," Rev whispered out loud.

"What was that?" Triton turned to her.

"It's nothing," she said as she shook the ghosts from her mind and looked up. They were standing at the edge of a clearing. To the right, tangled bushes and brush formed a thicket. Ahead in the clearing, a large tree had fallen near the edge of old boards and some crumbling stones that looked as if they might have been the foundations of a small village of huts. On the left side of the clearing was a large, flat-topped rock.

"Do you remember this place, Elgoth?" Merantha asked as they came near the fallen tree. Elgoth seemed lost in his own thoughts.

"I believe I do. That rock looks familiar."

Ruanea pulled yet another note from a hollow notch in the fallen tree. She unfolded it, then read, "_M.E.,_

"_You have proven a worthy adversary, my enemy. Your stealth skill is to be respected. This several years now, you have avoided me._

"_I found the food you left me. Ha! You think you can fool me into eating your poison! Such a poor trick from such a clever adversary. I fed your food to the pig I found tied up by your latest hut. Then I burned the hut!_

"_Hope you enjoyed the dysentery eating the pig surely gave you!_

_E.M."_

"I cannot explain these notes. I swear I did not write them. The one stalking me must have stolen my name to mock me," Elgoth protested.

"You wrote it to '_Me'_." Ruanea handed him the note and he crumpled it up.

"I killed all the pigs on the island, for food, except for one sow I saved. She was my favorite." Elgoth turned to the large stone, then drifted toward it. "I remember this rock. I used to climb it and dance naked here in the moonlight."

Ruanea gave Rev a sidelong glance, and she felt herself blush, knowing what the wizard was thinking. She didn't want to picture Elgoth dancing naked in the moonlight, his hair as deep as the color of the night itself, and the pale blue light shimmering over his tattooed skin, a moon elf bathed in the magic held in his blood.

Damn it! "Don't even start," she warned Ruanea.

The wizard innocently blinked at her, and Rev wasn't sure if it was an act or not. Ruanea confused her.

Elgoth in the meantime scaled the rock like a cat. "Here, there is another note," he said sitting on the edge of the rock.

He unfolded the message and squinted at it, then read, "_M.E.,_

"_You survived my traps in the jungle. You survived my poisoning of the last remaining pig on the island._

"_Your stealth skills are no match for me. You are a worthy adversary indeed. I am almost sad at the prospect of gutting you after more than a decade of searching for you._

"_I am so tired from meditating with one ear on the lookout for sounds of you stalking me. I must black out from strange exhaustion. I wake up in new places having no memory of how I got there. I think you have drugged me._

"_I've no idea how you accomplished it, but I know when I have been beaten. I retreat into a secret hidden place. The island is yours._

"_I bow my head to you and salute you. But do not cross my path. I may have some emotion about gutting you, but if I come across you, I will gut you!_

_E.M."_

Elgoth stared at the note for a while. Rev could see his confusion and war with his own memory play over his face. Finally, he threw the note down. "That bastard poisoned my pig!"

"Who are you calling a bastard, Bastard?!" The call came down as Bastard flew up onto the rock and stole the note, then hopped away and proceeded to shred it with his beak.

"Elgoth," Triton said as he slowly turned around to face the thicket behind them. "What did you add to your food while you were here?"

Just then Rev heard whatever had alerted him. A snorting and shuffling sound came from the underbrush of the thicket.

Elgoth hopped down from the rock. "I discovered an herb here that fortified my strength. I made a brew out of it, just in case."

They all turned toward the thicket. Several wild hogs, enormous muscular animals with wiry hair sprouting from their hides, came out of the brush and rooted around in the tall grass. There had to be somewhere between thirty and fifty of them.

"By the looks of it, your favorite pig gave birth to some piglets," Rev said drawing her sword. And they clearly passed on the strength potion their mama had eaten. "Anyone feel like bacon?"

"We do not have the correct weapon to kill thirty to fifty feral hogs in only a few minutes," Triton said. "Perhaps it is best if we do not disturb them." He waved his hand and the thick mist rose up around them. They crept onward through the clearing, listening for the grunts of the pigs behind them. In spite of Borassos's clanking armor, they managed to climb up a round in the bend.

Thankfully Triton's mists didn't hinder their vision. As they climbed up the path, they found themselves on a low plateau in the center of the island. Rev peered out at the expanse of deep blue ocean that surrounded them. The island looked like a tear drop, with the beach and the cove forming the eastern side of the point, and some rocky cliffs forming the western edge. that was where they first saw Elgoth's green fire. The far, rounded end of the island was covered in thick jungle, even darker and more tangled than the forest they had just passed through. From this vantagepoint, it was obvious that a village of sorts had once stood in the clearing behind them, with some of the footprints of the houses scarred black from fire.

Ahead of them lay a grassy slope leading down to a ring of druidic stones that had once formed a circle of pillars and crossbeams. Many of the stones had fallen at odd angles, but some of the pillars remained upright like broken teeth. The jungle worked on claiming them. While Rev couldn't get a clear look yet, the stones looked more green than gray, covered by the plants of the jungle. Around the stone circle, four ditches held rainwater in a pattern that hadn't been formed by the natural hand of a stream.

Merantha stepped forward, "Elgoth, is that the circle of rocks where all of your companions were ripped apart?"

Her question broke Elgoth out of a sort of frozen trance. He glared at her. "Yes, Merantha, I believe it is. I don't know why I came here. When you said to find water, this was all I could think of."

"Maybe we should go back to the fresh stream," Rev suggested.

Triton scratched at his chest. "I'm afraid I need to stop. My skin is becoming quite dry in this heat, and that is not good for my health." Triton waded into the waist deep grass heading toward the muddy pools of water.

A rattling hiss shuddered through the grass, then two chicken-like heads popped up. They blinked large, orange eyes in their scrawny plucked faces, then slowly raised a feathery crest.

Elgoth lunged forward and grabbed Triton by the shoulder. "Stay back. Those are cockatrices. If they jab you with their beak, you turn to stone."

The cockatrices rose up out of the grass squawking and flapping large, bat-like wings. Though they were only about the size of a goose, the fearsome mix of lizard and bird looked like a creature pieced together in an unfortunate accident.

One let out a loud squawk and flew straight for Triton. He leapt out of the way as it flapped into the grass, whipping a long, snake-like tail.

Rev pulled out her tin flute and tried to lull the creatures to sleep. One swayed and blinked its orange eyes, but then it snapped its focus back on Triton.

He grabbed the magic wand from Merantha and waved it at them. Blue shards burst out of the wand and flew at the beasts. The second cockatrice flew low over the tops of the grass and landed in front of Borassos. It lifted its head and crowed.

"I will not be turned to a statue for the likes of you, chicken," Elgoth shouted, then beheaded the cockatrice in front of Triton and struck the second on his backswing. Borassos followed the blow with a swing of his hammer.

Three more popped up out of the grass, blinking round eyes, then flapped their leathery wings as they squawked in alarm.

Rev ran up to Borassos and stabbed the one in front of him through the back, then pulled her cloak over her and ducked down into the grasses. She could just see what was happening over the edges of the swaying grass as Triton raised his hand and a large wave of water rose from one of the muddy wallows and rushed across the slope, knocking the cockatrices over.

Elgoth used the water to freeze one solid. Borassos pressed his hands together and prayed. Rev expected a rush of flames, but instead there was only the familiar fizzle and pop of the flames sputtering out before they could ignite.

Merantha turned to him, exasperated. "I thought you were better at this by now!"

The cockatrices took to the air, flapping toward them and squawking. Rev could hear the alarmed snorts of the pigs not far behind them. The last thing they needed was a bunch of angry hogs trampling up the hill. She drew her dagger, popped up out of the grass, and flung it at the bird-lizard. It lodged in the cockatrice's open beak. Her dagger hit its mark, stopping the bird-lizard mid-crow. Bastard laughed, then imitated the squawking, and its sudden stop, then laughed again. The last cockatrice flew off into the trees.

Something moved on the path behind them, and Rev drew her second dagger, ready to throw it at an approaching pig, but it was Ruanea who came up the path with her nose stuck in her new spell book.

She stopped in her tracks and stared at Rev's dagger in surprise. "Did something just happen?"

Rev blew out a breath and sheathed her dagger, then pulled the other from the mouth of the dead cockatrice. Ruanea studied the bird-lizard, then prodded it with the toe of her boot. "We had better move on quietly. The pigs below sound restless."

Triton was already at the edge of the closest ditch splashing water on himself. Rev and the others joined him. The water was clear enough, but Rev had no desire to dip her water skein in it. Who knows how many times the pigs had wallowed here. Ruanea wandered to the circle of stones and touched one of them, then pulled out some crystals, including her ball.

She chanted and traced strange runes in the air as Triton finished bathing.

"Do you think there would be a clue here to the location of Callie's shard?" Rev asked Elgoth. He was too distracted by Fitzmina, who had flown behind a bush and refused to come any closer to the stones.

"I do not know," Elgoth said. "My mind is full of visions, or perhaps they are memories. This is a dark place." He made an angry gesture at the skull, but she refused to leave the bush.

"What do you see?" Borassos asked Ruanea.

"There are the traces of old magic here," she said. "Dark magic."

Something moved in the corner of Rev's vision. She glanced that way, but there was only the thick wall of jungle.

"Can the portal be reopened?" Merantha asked.

"No," Ruanea said, her eyes turning glassy. "It's been sealed by something powerful." She threw her hands up and the stones glowed with a faint light in a deep purple color. They all moved closer to inspect the faint glowing runes on the stones when Borassos shouted.

"What is that!" He pointed behind them. Rev turned and one of the large trees glowed purple so brightly, it cast the light of the color onto the white of her shirt.

The tree swayed to one side, then another, moving toward them. "The tree is walking!" Rev backed up against the stone.

"Don't be ridiculous," Elgoth said, still looking at the ring. I lived on this island for twenty years. I think I would have noticed a walking tree." Then he turned around, and his expression slacked in shock. "And that is a walking tree."

A deep voice, formed from the groaning sound of old branches in the wind, and rocks breaking beneath roots, rumbled over them in a slow, swaying cadence. "I do not trust mammals… or magic," the tree warned as it loomed over them.

"That is wise," Rev responded. "I don't trust magic either." Bastard tucked himself against her ear, clearly upset by the sight of the moving tree.

The tree's bark twisted into a vague face as it peered at her. "A bird uses you as a perch… You might be trustworthy."

"Greetings, tree…" Triton searched for the right word, but couldn't find one. "Uh, my name is Triton and we wish you no harm. We just wanted to know what happened here."

The tree shifted again. "My name is Treefell," he moaned. "And I recognize him… He spent many years running around the island in circles." He waved a long branch toward Elgoth.

"So, you were here when the portal was opened?" Merantha asked.

"When the portal opened… it woke me from my slumber… many died… only that one lived. I have sealed it… Now I guard it… I keep the dark magic at bay." Treefell shuddered a long sigh, and some of his leaves fell down on them.

"What happened here?" Rev asked.

"They came… built a village to stay while they worked… They created the circle… The beautiful witch opened it to summon a creature… They pulled the baby from the deep… He took it from the circle." Again, Treefell waved a branch at Elgoth. "They thought they could control it… Needed it… The blood of the kraken opens the box… Then the mother came."

"The voice that came from the portal." Elgoth muttered. "It was the last thing I remembered._ When it dies, you die_. It meant the creature we stole. It is not a prophecy, but a curse." Elgoth looked stunned. "And that thing was only the baby? You got us in over our heads, witch!" Elgoth screamed at the bush where Fitzmina was hiding. "You were supposed to close it. It was your magic that opened the pit. As soon as the mother came, you ran into the jungle like a coward! Leaving us all to slaughter!"

The bush trembled.

"If I didn't kill you and curse you before, I would do it again!" Elgoth lunged toward the bush, but Triton caught him by the arm.

"So, the mother left you alive to protect her lost offspring," Triton said. "Is it still on the island?"

Rev didn't want to think about the dead adventurers they had found. Did Elgoth see them as a threat to the baby kraken, even in his madness? Was that why they were dead? The tree let out a broken snore, then shuddered awake.

"It is here… Look in the cave where you once lived for many years… Follow the path." He pointed down into the jungle, then swayed as he walked slowly back into the trees. The last thing they heard was, "By the way… I like this one much better."

Elgoth looked stricken. He rubbed his forehead, then looked around seemingly lost. "Are you alright, friend?" Triton asked. "This must all be a shock."

"It's like a fog has lifted," Elgoth said. "I remember everything now. Who I was. The madness. What I did. I thought the dark elf that hunted me was dead. But it was me, and I remember what it was like to be him. My old self. And why didn't the tree speak to me earlier? I had twenty years on this island listening to nothing but terrible bone jokes." Elgoth paused, then stiffened. "He watched me dance on my naked dancing rock!"

Rev placed a hand on his shoulder, but then didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say. He pulled away from her and began walking down the trail that Treefell had shown them.

"What are the odds that he kills us in our sleep now?" Ruanea asked.

Rev wasn't sure. She agreed with Treefell. She liked this Elgoth much better than the one that wrote the letters. But she didn't know which Elgoth, Elgoth would choose to be.

Triton came up beside her. "During the council meeting, Milo said that the key to finding Callie's shard was on this island. Treefell mentioned needing the blood of a kraken to open a box. Is the blood of this young stranded kraken the key to finding Callie's shard that Milo referred to?"

"Possibly," Borassos said. "No matter what happens, we can't kill the thing, or Elgoth will die as well."

"This should be interesting," Ruanea grumbled as she flipped a page of her spell book.

As they followed the path, the canopy of the trees thickened above them, blocking out most of the late afternoon light. The jungle around them was so thick, it looked like a tunnel formed around a narrow trail with a worn footpath. Borassos used a prayer to make his talisman glow. Merantha stayed close by him so she could see as well.

Rev and the other elves didn't have a problem seeing due to the darkness, but even elf eyes couldn't see through the thick trunk of a tree. The crept cautiously down the path, around a bend to the right, and then around another when Elgoth suddenly froze. Fitzmina did as well clacking her sharp goblin-skull teeth together.

"I remember this place," he whispered.

From somewhere ahead of them in the darkness, Rev could hear a heartbreaking and mournful sobbing. It was a woman's voice, utterly despondent and eerie as it wailed in the shadowy depths of the jungle path.

"That's a banshee," Borassos murmured to the rest of them. Triton looked confused as Fitzmina floated higher and began drifting down the path. "It's the trapped spirit of a female elf that used her great beauty for selfish and evil purposes."

Elgoth took a hesitant step forward, following his skull. "It can't be. I have bound her spirit to me."

"Elgoth?" Merantha looked unsure.

Something white flashed across the path in front of them.

"But this is where she died," Elgoth continued. "As I gutted her."

Bastard squawked, and Rev turned, drawing her rapier. The white flashed behind them. They grouped tighter together into a little circle in the middle of the path with their backs to one another. Bastard flew up into the trees and tucked into a hollow in a trunk, hiding.

Suddenly the hair on Rev's neck and arms stood on end. She turned as she stumbled backward. The ghost had apparated into the center of their party.

Glowing tendrils of transparent cloth and wisps of hair floated around the ghastly remains of the apparition's face. Permanent streaks of tears flowed down from hollowed out eyes, and over skeletal features that felt very familiar.

"Fitzmina!" Elgoth drew his sword as the spirit turned to him.

Borassos held out his holy talisman. It glowed brightly in his hand as he shouted, "Piss off!" to the restless spirit.

Triton struck her with his thorn whip, while Elgoth stabbed his cutlass into her gut, and Rev swiped her rapier through the dead woman's shoulder. It passed through like air, and Rev wasn't sure if it made any difference, but it was all she could do to fight this abomination.

Fitzmina the skull flew close to the spirit's face, and the banshee began to glow. The death-like visage transformed slowly, flesh filling out, hair lengthening into its full glory, until Rev glimpsed, if only briefly, Fitzmina as she had been when she was alive.

She was stunning in her beauty.

Rev had always been content to think of herself as human, but in that moment, she realized how much her human blood diminished the potential of her elven half.

The ghostly Fitzmina serenely opened her mouth, then let out a mournful wail that turned into a shattering scream. Rev covered her ears as they all recoiled from the sound. It struck through the heart of her, filling her with sadness, making her wish for death, but Rev kept her feet.

Borassos too, recovered and shot a blinding bolt of light at the spirit. Triton whipped her again, the crack breaking the sound of the painful wail.

"Fitzmina!" Elgoth pointed at his skull. "Dive at her!" he ordered.

But Fitzmina the skull, refused. Instead the squat little goblin skull that had once been One-Eye began to bubble and bulge. Slowly the bone pressed outward and reformed, teeth lost their sharp edge, until Fitzmina's skull returned to her rightful shape.

Rev let out a ferocious shout of her own as she slashed at the banshee, then stabbed her through the side.

The spirit started spinning and spinning as Fitzmina the skull swooped down and found her place within the banshee's body. Suddenly the swirling ghost stopped as both the spirit and the skull faced Elgoth together.

For one blinding moment, the two became one, and the banshee transformed into what looked like a solid person. A shocked and betrayed look encompassed her face as she stared at Elgoth with an open mouth and dead eyes. It was horrifying. Her hands reached out to cling to his neck like a lover, her inky black hair fell into her ice-blue eyes. Then she looked down to the hilt of his blade protruding from her body. It must have been exactly the way she looked the moment that she died.

All of the men collapsed on the side of the pathway in fear. Rev stood firm, holding her sword. She swiped her rapier through the ghost's neck, and the banshee disappeared, leaving only Fitzmina the skull looking glum and slightly guilty.

Rev sheathed her blade and sighed as Bastard popped his yellow head out of the hole in the tree. Rev stood face to face with Fitzmina's skull. She gave the skull a slight nod, having some sense of sympathy for the woman the skull once was, even though she was evil and deserved her fate.

It only made her more determined to never make a similar mistake.

"I still don't understand," Elgoth muttered, his voice shaking. "Fitzmina is bound to me. I control her.

Rev gave him a sad look. "You have trapped the part of her that hated you." She turned away from him. "That was the part that loved you."

**Commentary: This was one of my favorite adventures. I really got into Elgoth's story, and enjoyed our encounter with the Banshee ghost of Fitzmina. I feel like she had a nice arch to her story, and like the floating skull even more now. The banter about the thirty to fifty wild hogs came on the heels of the meme, and ended up as a running joke at the table. I could tell that our DM was proud of this bit of the adventure, especially the part with Fitzmina the Banshee. I also thought the letters this week were particularly fun. Thanks again for reading!**


	17. Chapter 17

Dungeons & Dragons/Saltmarsh

Episode 17

"I never loved that witch!" Elgoth protested, his eyes flashed green again then he stomped down the trail.

"You didn't have to," Rev muttered to herself.

Fitzmina dipped low, then forlornly followed Elgoth.

Ruanea let out a resigned breath and looked around. Something caught her attention in the bushes just beside the path. "There are bones here."

Sure enough, a withered skeleton rested, almost peacefully next to the path. A few tattered remnants of her black robes sank against her picked and bleached bones. There was no skull, which didn't surprise anyone. Ruanea lifted a circular amulet off the severed neck, while Merantha picked up a mysterious ring. "I don't suppose she is going to use this," the wizard said as she carefully inspected it. Fitzmina also had a sack that reminded Rev of her own infinite sack, but there was something that felt off about it, and dangerous.

"Best not put anything in this for now," Triton warned. He tucked the sack away.

Without another word, they left Fitzmina's bones to their fate, and set off down the trail after Elgoth. They found him in a small clearing that had been cut into the thick forest by the death of a large tree. Where the giant had fallen away, a small meadow formed next to the tree's ripped-up roots. It was a little bit brighter here, but they were losing light quickly. Elgoth had already started on a shelter as he bent two saplings together and hastily lashed them.

"Where is Fitzmina," Merantha asked him.

"She needs some time to herself," he said as he swung the sack on his hip back, then continued to work on the stubborn young trees that didn't wish to bend to his will.

Ruanea scrunched up her nose, then dusted off the top of a rock and sat, flipping through the pages of her spell book. Feeling a bit worn, Rev leaned up against the tree and hoped that nothing else decided to attack them. She took out her tin pipe and began composing a song. The melody was unfathomably sad, to the point where her own eyes welled with tears as she played it. It was also extremely catchy, and Rev couldn't seem to get it out of her head. Perfect. It was exactly what she needed.

She noticed Borassos sniffing and swiping a hasty hand under his nose and eyes as he gathered some firewood. Elgoth didn't seem to care as he cursed at the saplings and attempted to bend a third one down to meet the other two.

"Rev, please," Merantha sighed. "Could you play something a little more uplifting?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't." In an effort to spare her companions, Rev tucked the pipe away.

Once again, her mind wandered to Callie, her warmth and her loving spirit. She could picture the halfling on the deck of the Northwind, bringing Rev a mug of water from Milo's tank. "I know you too well, dear. You are not needlessly cruel," she cautioned.

"The key word there is _needless_," Rev muttered out loud. She intended to be exactly as cruel as she needed to be to make her point, and never let those that harmed her ever forget the mistake of it. She shook her head. _Those that harmed her,_ those words danced around her intentions as easily as she danced around enemies with her blade. Milo would feel the cut of her wrath, and so would her crew. If she managed things right, they would feel the sting of this betrayal as long as they lived, and they would never betray her again for fear of her. She intended to live her name.

Rev heard a gasp and looked up. Merantha had dropped an armful of kindling as she stared at Ruanea. The book in her lap glowed with a blinding light as a mysterious wind blew the short strands of the sun elf's copper tipped hair back.

Rev drew a dagger and prepared to pull her friend out of the spell, but then the light faded, and Ruanea casually turned a page.

"Ah, this is something new," Ruanea mentioned as if nothing strange had happened. "These are exactly what I needed."

She waved her hand in the air and a strange purple dome formed around her. Rev immediately rushed in, still holding her dagger, but it was clear that Ruanea was not in distress. The dome solidified around them like strange magical glass. Inside the dome, the weather was pleasantly comfortable compared to the humid stickiness of the air outside. No mosquitoes buzzed around them, and Rev couldn't help but feel quite safe. She sheathed her dagger. "What is this?" she asked the wizard.

"It's my magical hut. This is much better than being exposed to the elements," Ruanea said as she stood from the rock. She looked around and seemed satisfied with her work. "Everyone is welcome to join me, except for Elgoth," she stated.

"You would leave him outside?" Rev asked as Merantha, Triton, and Borassos passed through the violet barrier and then came back in. Elgoth tried to follow but bounced off the barrier and cursed.

"Elgoth has his own shelter," Ruanea explained. "I would not want to insult him by insinuating that mine was superior to his. I'm sure he'll be quite comfortable in a hut of his own making. From what I understand, he has a lot of experience making them, and then burning them down. I even made my hut purple, so he wouldn't confuse it with his own magic."

"How very courteous of you," Borassos said as he shifted uneasily on his feet. But he didn't leave the shelter, and Rev had no inclination to leave it either. She sat cross-legged on a mossy patch and pulled out the silk to continue her sewing. Merantha toyed with the dark crystal around her neck. Triton sat down next to her, but didn't say a word.

They slept in peace, unconcerned about the comings and goings of the jungle around them. Every so often, the loud shout of one of Elgoth's curses broke the quiet in Ruanea's hut, but other than that, Rev fell into a dreamless sleep that left her clear-eyed in the morning.

The same couldn't be said for poor Elgoth. As Rev passed through the purple wall of the hut, she found him huddled under his hasty shelter, staring blankly in front of him with his sword crossed protectively in front of his legs.

"Elgoth?" she reached out to touch him. He startled out of his meditation, and she had to jump backward to avoid his blade as it erupted in green fire.

He blinked, then seemed to recognize her. "Oh, it is only you." He sheathed his blade, then ran a hand over his scarred face. Dark circles sagged under his eyes.

The others slowly emerged from the hut, and then it dissolved away into the humid morning mists. Ruanea gathered her things and didn't seem to notice Elgoth's murderous stare. "So, how do we find your cave?" she asked as if nothing were amiss.

Elgoth made a strange sound low in his throat. "Follow me," he grumbled then yawned.

They followed a staggering Elgoth through the jungle as their path turned into a branching maze of footpaths through the jungle. At each juncture, Elgoth stopped and considered his choice, before choosing one and stalking down it. As he came to the next convergence of paths, he looked confused, but undaunted, as he ploughed deeper and deeper into the jungle.

"Are we sure he knows the way?" Triton whispered to Rev.

She shook her head. "He's the only chance we have of finding the right path."

"I don't think we're on it," Borassos whispered. "Perhaps he would remember better if he had a chance to rest as well."

"There's not much we can do about that now," Triton admitted.

Just then, Rev heard something move in the trees. Bastard noticed it too and peered up into the canopy above them with one fiery eye.

Rev put a finger to her lips to silence the others then reached into her sack and pulled out one of the ugly fruits left over from their first meeting with Ferrin. She tossed it ahead on the path, and it rolled slowly to a stop.

The jungle fell eerily silent.

Then the trees above and around them erupted in a screeching laughter followed by animal hoots and grunts. Bastard mocked the laughter, then swooped down over the path, grabbed the ugly fruit, and flew off into the trees.

They were surrounded, but Rev couldn't see what the creatures were. Ruanea produced her little balls of light and floated them up into the trees. The howls died down as the lights reached the canopy. A large baboon swung to a tree branch, his body briefly illuminated by the light.

They barely had time to realize what they were dealing with before Elgoth shouted in alarm. Rev turned around to see three enormous baboons swing down on vines and pull him up into the trees. He called for help, but the baboons' laughter drowned out his cries.

Borassos prayed for his holy fire, but it didn't appear, so he cursed to himself and scaled the tree after Elgoth. Triton followed after him to speak to the tree, but a new set of apes grabbed him and hauled him across the path and into the trees on the other side. The branches shook violently as the baboons hurried through the canopy taking Triton with them.

Rev pulled out her pipe and played. Like rotten fruit in autumn, eight of the apes dropped down out of the tree, landing on the path in front of her, fast asleep. Two were significantly larger than the others. Ruanea inspected them.

"Is Elgoth alive?" Merantha called up the trunk.

Borassos answered. "He's unconscious."

The canopy rustled as six more baboons converged on Borassos and Elgoth. They tried to pull Elgoth away, but Borassos managed to hold them off.

Merantha blasted one out of the air as it passed over head, while Rev quietly dispatched the two large ones on the ground before they could wake up and grab someone else.

The mocking laughter in the trees turned to vicious animal screaming.

Ruanea stood up and turned to the tree next to the one holding Borassos and Elgoth. She lifted her hands and the entire thing went up in an explosion of fire. Rev ducked as the hellish wave of heat broke over them. Her skin on her face burned as fire rained down from the tree.

Once more, the jungle fell silent. Borassos managed to climb back down the tree with Elgoth before the fire spread.

Suddenly the entire canopy above them moved at once. The angry screams of the animals became panicked cries as the baboons swung through the branches as fast as they could away from the fire. Bastard carried his fruit back down to her shoulder and continued to chew on it as if nothing were wrong.

Rev kneeled down next to Elgoth. Borassos looked up at her. "He's mostly dead," the cleric said.

"That means he's partially alive," Ruanea muttered. "We have to get him moving. Triton is still in danger."

Merantha worked on Elgoth, and he stirred enough to shout, "The monkeys! Not the monkeys!" He wasn't exactly coherent, but it was enough for her to loop his arm over her shoulders and help drag him down the path.

The trail led downhill, and soon they found themselves in a marshy sort of swamp, with spooky tangled trees above them and a Sulphur tinged haze in the air. Rev was glad for her necklace which lessened the effect of the stench, but Ruanea and Merantha were not so blessed. They both held arms over their noses as they descended into the swamp. Borassos didn't seem bothered by it, but there was often a cloud of foul odor that surrounded him, so it was likely he didn't notice.

As they approached the exposed root crown of an enormous tree, they could hear a scratching sound coming from the brush. Rev pulled her swords. Three unusually sized rodents with an awkward gait and long dripping teeth, emerged from behind the tree. It almost looked like a full-sized man had donned a rat costume and decided to crawl around the forest floor, as one scuttled forward swinging a long leathery tail behind it.

Ruanea released her purple shards of magic that darted through the air to strike each of the rats.

Rev ran forward and stabbed one, but it knocked into her and they ended up wrestling on the ground. She heard a popping noise and rolled the rat-creature over just before flames spurted out of the ground, killing the creature. Rev spun up onto her feet and ducked behind a tree.

A rat scampered forward and sunk his teeth into Borassos. He swung his hammer, knocking the rat away from him. The last one hissed at Ruanea, and Rev dashed out from behind the tree, stabbing it to death.

The rat that bit Borassos scurried off into the trees, leaving them breathless.

"Which way now?" Merantha asked. "The sooner we are out of this horrible place the better."

"Monkeys!" Elgoth's head slumped to his chest.

"It's not so bad," Borassos said, holding his bleeding bite.

Ruanea and Rev both stared at him incredulously.

"I'm not saying I'd like to build a summer home here," Borassos defended, "But the trees are actually quite lovely." Borassos started down the path to the left, and the rest of them followed.

As Borassos entered another break in the trees, Rev heard the slight popping sound again.

"Borassos, look out!" Ruanea had heard it too, because she backed up into Merantha and Elgoth.

Borassos turned, when a geyser shot out of the ground, hitting him with scalding water. He stumbled away from the spout and wiped his face. Bastard spooked at the blast of water and flew back up into the trees again still clutching his fruit.

"Are you alright?" Rev asked him.

"No, I've been badly burned," he admitted.

"At least you got a bath," Rev said in a weak attempt to lighten the situation.

Merantha lifted her head as Elgoth moaned. "I think I see something that could help up ahead. We should hurry."

Rev helped Borassos down into a depression where a pool opened up. While the edges had an amber hue, the center almost glowed a clear, crystal blue. Unfortunately, the pool did not smell as pleasant as it looked. Rev held on to her amulet, thankful for it once more.

"That is a healing spring," Merantha said as she leaned Elgoth up against a tree. "At least I think it is. It could heal you with one drink, or it might kill you. I'm not sure which."

"I'll pass," Ruanea said holding her nose.

It was Borassos who moved forward wincing with each step. Rev could see the pain etched over his face. "I think I'll risk it. Either option would be a relief at this point." He dipped a hand in the water and took a drink.

Rev recited the words to her father's healing song in her mind, just in case, but Borassos straightened. The red blotches on his skin from the scalding water and the fetid bite from the unusually sized rat, faded away. He smiled and thumped his chest. "Good as new!" he declared.

"And now you smell bad again," Rev lamented, but then gave him a smile and thumped him on the back. "But I'm glad you are still with us."

Merantha tried to get Elgoth to drink from the spring, but he slapped her hand away shouting, "No time to drink your poison, witch! The monkeys!"

Merantha waved a hand in front of his face, but he didn't react. "He's still mad." She hauled him back on her shoulder. "C'mon Elgoth."

The path seemed a little brighter as they came to an open meadow. They all stepped forward with caution. Ruanea threw out a hand and pushed Rev back. "Fire flowers." She pointed down to a small white flower with a red center hidden in the grass. "Touch them and you'll regret it."

They all crept through the flowers, but Rev felt one brush up against her ankle as they reached the far side of the meadow. Immediately it felt as if she had stuck her foot in the center of a campfire. She hopped forward, cursing as Bastard repeated each of her curses from his place in the trees.

They passed another Sulphur spring, and then came to a second meadow. This time Rev cartwheeled through the flowers, twisting and flipping over the meadow. Borassos tripped over a rock and fell face first into the blooms, then rolled around in pain, smashing more of them. Somehow, they dragged him out of the clearing. Thankfully the fire sensation didn't last long.

Turning at another fork in the path, Rev stepped forward as the ground turned sandy. But suddenly it felt as if she had just placed her foot down on nothing at all. She fell straight down, and threw her hands out to stop herself, finding her up to her armpits in a pit of loose sand. "Help!" she cried out as she felt her body slip lower. She tried to pull herself out but couldn't.

Ruanea stepped forward, and with a flick of her hand, Rev shot back up out of the sand, magically pulled into the air. She floated above the pit, spinning her hands in thin air as she hovered a few feet above the ground.

"Ruanea!" Rev didn't know she had this power.

"Falling in pits is undignified. Watch your step next time," Ruanea floated Rev in front of her, keeping her airborne, much to Bastard's delight. He flew around her squawking joyfully, like he had been waiting for years for her to figure out how to move about like a normal creature.

As they neared a copse of trees, they startled a pair of the unusually sized rodents. They hissed at the party, but Ruanea blasted one with ice as Rev slowly floated back down to the ground, and Borassos smashed the other with his hammer.

The heat rising from the ground lessened, and the trees seemed less scraggly as they turned down a path that led into a thicker but less ominous part of the jungle. It sloped downward, until a clearing opened up on ancient ruins in a deep depression circled by limestone ledges, and thick trees. The calls of the baboons rang out from the circle of trees as they saw an enormous ape with the listless body of Triton slung over his shoulder. He took one look at them, then turned, hung his head, and loped forward on his knuckles toward a circular temple on the far side of the clearing. Four of the large baboons climbed down from the trees and stood in a line at the door.

The party stayed close together as they cautiously made their way to the temple. Merantha let Elgoth down near a wall away from the danger and stayed with him as Rev, Borassos, and Ruanea entered the temple.

They saw Triton crumpled on the other side of the room near a pile of stone and wood that on first glance looked like a heap of rubble. The ape straightened and stood on his feet, then leaned an elbow up against it and puffed his chest out. Only then did they realize the rubble was a throne.

The light shone in through the missing roof as the ape cleared his throat and spoke. "I see you have accepted my invitation, walking ones," he declared in a slow, pompous voice.

Rev was a bit taken aback at hearing him speak. "Why have you attacked and kidnapped our friends?" she demanded.

"Attack! No, I asked my followers to bring you here, and they did. You can have your friend. I assure you he is alive." The king ape looked a bit distressed as Triton rolled over and moaned.

Borassos ran forward and picked up the sea elf, then took him outside where Merantha could care for both the injured.

The king watched, shifting on his squat legs. "I'm delighted that you are here. BANANAS!" He clapped his hands and lost his balance for a moment before catching himself on the arm of the throne again.

A baboon squealed above and threw a large bunch of ripe bananas down into the temple from the top of the wall. They splatted on the floor and the king motioned to them as a grin exposed his large teeth. "See, we mean no harm."

"What do you want from us?" Ruanea demanded.

The king looked a bit abashed. "Powerful walking ones. I wish for you to teach me… to… walk."

"Walk?" Rev lowered her sword. "You want to walk?"

"Like the walking ones," he said as he let go of the throne and tried to take a step forward but wobbled and almost lost his balance. A flash of rage washed over his face, but then he puffed himself up again and swayed on his feet.

"This is ridiculous," Ruanea muttered so only Rev and Borassos could hear.

But if it meant that their party could get out of this without further injury, Rev was for trying. The ape looked like a stooped, old man trying to stand on too-tired legs. That gave her an idea. "You need a walking stick," she suggested.

The king looked around, and pulled out a long branch, tumbling a few stones off his throne. He held it out in front of him with a stiff arm, so that the branch was horizontal to the ground. He took a large confident step forward, and nearly fell over. He had to catch himself, and he squealed a howl of rage. "This is not walking!"

"No, no!" Rev pulled her rapier and held the hilt as if it were the top of a cane. She used it to demonstrate how the stick should be used. "Like this. Again, she pantomimed the motion."

The king frowned, thoughtfully, then turned the stick vertically and held it out to the side of his hip. The posture made him look like quite a dandy.

Again, he tried to take a few steps forward, but he was holding the end of the stick an inch off the ground, not using it to balance his weight. He nearly fell again.

Ruanea made a strange motion with her hand and the king rose barely a fraction of an inch. He took a couple of steps. His balance was clearly faulty, and he should have fallen, but Ruanea was holding him aloft, the way she had made Rev fly out of the sand pit.

For a moment he seemed delighted, then he realized his foot didn't have traction against the ground and he screamed. "I did not bring you here for tricks! I will walk!"

He let out a howling screech, and the baboons around them amplified the call with their own angry voices. The baboons standing guard outside rushed in, their claws and teeth bared. The king threw the walking stick at Rev, shattering it against the wall behind her, then brutally thumped his chest like a drum.

Rev ran forward, used the throne as a ramp, and launched over the head of the ape, stabbing him in the shoulder before landing on the other side, then scrambling for a place to hide behind the rubble. She threw her cloak over herself, and it shielded her from the angry ape. He searched for her, but then turned on Borassos, running forward and biting him on the shoulder. He swung his hairy arm back and knocked Ruanea off her feet. The wizard stood and blasted him with frost as Merantha rushed in to help Borassos.

In the chaos, Rev took the opportunity to scramble up the rubble and stab the king in the back, then she tucked down again under her cloak. He screeched, and thumped his chest again, searching for her, when Rev watched him shoot up ten feet in the air.

Rev popped up from behind the throne to see Ruanea concentrating on the ape, but the other baboons moved in to attack.

Borassos hit one with his hammer and it crumpled as the ape king flailed his arms helplessly like a fly in a web. Rev saw another baboon sneaking up on Ruanea, and Rev rushed out to kill it before it attacked the wizard, breaking the spell that kept the king aloft. Borassos and Rev quickly killed the last of the baboons as the king continued to scream above them.

With the immediate threat gone, Borassos moved closer to the ape. "Calm down!" he commanded. "Count backwards from ten, or something."

The ape let out a few more angry whoops, then shouted. "I wanted you to teach me to walk!" He paused as he looked around, "But now I… can… fly?"

He grinned and lifted his chin again as he made swimming motions with his arms. Ruanea subtly shifted her hand and floated him around the open temple ruins. "Behold, lowly walking ones! I am the great _flying_ Ape King! Who can fly!"

"Congratulations, great King. It is a marvelous achievement," Rev encouraged. He continued to swim through the air. Bastard flew down and landed on her shoulder now that the baboons had calmed down.

"Thank you, lowly walking ones. You may take the box over behind the door as thanks for your lessons." The king turned over on his back and attempted an awkward flip. Ruanea indulged him as Rev snuck out of the temple and found a small door in a crumpled wall. She inspected it before opening it and discovered a wooden box with a lock, but no keyhole. She shoved the whole thing unopened into her bag, then returned to the others. Merantha had Elgoth and Triton back on their feet as they stared up in confusion at the floating ape.

As soon as they left, the king would fall, and they needed time to escape the baboons. Rev thought of something quickly. "Please come down, Great King, so that we can humbly bid you farewell." She said. "Flying can be very exhausting. It would be wise not to attempt it again until tomorrow."

He peered down at her parrot. "You who are friends with birds know the way of flying things. Before you go, you may kiss my feet." Borassos shrugged and obliged him. The Ape King moved his legs as if he were descending a staircase, and Ruanea lowered him to the ground.

"Farewell, friends," he declared. "And try not to feel sad that you can merely walk. Flying takes great skill."

They waved to the Ape King, then hurried out of the ruins as fast as they could.


	18. Chapter 18

Dungeons & Dragons/Saltmarsh

Episode 18

They made it back through the swamp to the place where they had camped the night before. Ruanea went back to the rock she was sitting on when she initially cast her little purple dome and motioned to the rest of them to come closer. Elgoth stood by his bent over trees, looking miserable.

"Maybe you should let Elgoth in this time," Borassos suggested. Ruanea looked confused.

"But he has his own shelter," she responded. "Why would he need to come inside this one?"

"Do you really want him to be exhausted again?" Merantha asked. "He got lost, and then we had to deal with baboons."

"If he wants to join us, all he has to do is ask," Ruanea said with a bored shrug.

Rev walked over to Elgoth. "Do you want a good night sleep?" she asked the surly elf.

"I told you, I don't sleep like lesser creatures," he growled, glaring at the rest of the party gathered around Ruanea.

Rev let out a heavy sigh. "Put your pride away for a moment and ask. She'll let you in," Rev told him, even though she was half-tempted to leave him out there with his sad little bent trees. She walked back to Ruanea and was surprised to see Elgoth follow her.

She looked over her shoulder at him.

He addressed Ruanea. "I would like a night free from the distraction of mosquitoes," he said to her.

Ruanea clapped her hands together and the little purple dome sprang up around them. The air immediately felt comfortably cool and dry, and the party began settling down for the night.

With everyone inside the small dome, it felt a bit crowded. Triton sat next to her as Rev pulled out her sewing, but he didn't say anything. Rev wondered what the sea elf was thinking. He had just been through quite an ordeal. Was he just being a good soldier for his king? Or did he feel any sense of loyalty to the motley group huddled under a tiny purple dome on a deserted island in the middle of the Sea of Steam.

Rev let her mind wander as she sewed the silk in her hands.

Once again, she heard Callie's voice in the depths of her mind. "At the heart, you are kind, Rev."

"Why don't you go and haunt your backstabbing husband, because he's the one who should feel guilty for what he did!" Rev said out loud.

As soon as the words left her mouth, she remembered where she was and looked into Triton's shocked face.

"I'm sorry, I was just thinking to myself." She hunched back over her sewing.

Triton carefully folded his legs and pulled his hair over his shoulder. "This place has a way of making everyone a little mad. I hope we find a way to leave here soon."

"Me too," Rev admitted, stabbing the silk with her needle. She had plans.

The next morning, Elgoth seemed like a new person, and easily remembered the way to his old cave. It didn't take them long to reach the entrance. Rev watched Elgoth carefully to see if the island and his returning memories would change him from the person she knew, although that was an absurd way of thinking. No one really knew Elgoth well, even Elgoth it seemed. It made him a blank canvas, but one that had only been made so, because the creator painted over a former image. How could he remake himself into something new, if the traces of what came before were literally imprinted on his skin?

It didn't seem likely that he could paint a new portrait of himself, even if he wanted to. However, today he seemed slightly kinder toward Fitzmina, threatening her and insulting her a bit less as they found their way through the jungle. Rev hoped it was a good sign.

"Here it is," Elgoth announced, gesturing toward a large slanted crack between two boulders that created a dark opening about the size of a large door. Near the entrance they spotted another note, the writing, faded brown.

Triton pulled the note down and read,

"_M.E.,_

"_My adversary, if you are reading this you have followed me into the caverns. This is to your doom. I warn you now I have retreated to spare you, my only friend, from the gutting you so richly deserve._

"_Return to the surface, live in the sun. I shall take the underdark, and in this fashion, we can divide this island appropriately. You in the open where you hide so elegantly, and me in the caverns where my black soul can plot your gutting._

"_This is your last warning, my friend. I will gut you when I find you. Return to the surface!_

_E.M."_

Everyone turned to Elgoth. He let out a heavy breath. "It was not easy surviving this island," he said simply. "Do not judge. We are trapped here together this time. Should we survive twenty years, I will laugh at your madness."

"I'm fine with that as long as you don't try to gut us," Rev muttered as she took a step forward. Elgoth walked confidently toward the mouth of the cave, as if he had a thousand times before.

Just as he reached the entrance, a chorus of high-pitched squeaking followed by the furious beat of wings exploded out of the cave. Rev ducked as Bastard flew off into the tree and squawked at the bats. Rev could feel the bats' wings slapping against her head and shoulders. When they finally moved on, she stood up, only to see Ruanea hiking with purpose back up the trail.

"Ruanea!" Rev jogged to catch up with her.

"That's it," she declared. "I'm done."

"Come on," Rev encouraged, catching her arm. "We're in this together."

Ruanea glared at her but turned around and reluctantly headed back.

As Rev passed Bastard, she called to him. "Better stay here, buddy. A cave is no place for a parrot. Guard the entrance for us."

"He's dead!" Bastard sang, then climbed higher up the tree and found some sort of nut to chew on.

"I hope he's not talking about me." Elgoth gave Bastard a backward glance before walking into the cave. They all followed him into a small chamber. The light from the entrance slanted in, cutting through the darkness, and landing on an agitated owlbear. He raised his tufts and let out a screech that deepened into a roar. Slowly the creature rose up on his hind legs, the disk around his face flaring out as he swiped a talon-spiked paw at them.

Elgoth and Rev dove into action with their blades while Triton used his wand to shoot magic missiles at the owlbear, and Ruanea hit it with frost. It slumped over with a hooting groan and fell dead on the floor.

"That was not there when I left!" Elgoth declared, stashing his new icy scimitar. "Or maybe it was. I can't be sure. I never noticed him. It might have been nice to have company."

"You also didn't notice a walking and talking tree," Merantha said as she inspected the owlbear's nest. She pulled out another note that the owlbear had used as lining. She shook the feathers off it and moved closer to the light to read.

"_M.E.,_

"_I found your camp! You have still not returned to the surface, my friend. Why have you not shown yourself? Why will you not fight me like the warrior you surely are?_

"_Perhaps we should unite. The enemies are legion in the underdark. Come to me and I will hold your gutting in abeyance until we have vanquished our common enemy._

"_Surely you see the reason in my logic. Come to me, my friend. We shall make our enemies blood run on the rocks in the dark._

_E.M."_

"This is a reasonable parlay," Elgoth declared. "I wonder why he did not accept it."

They all stared at him, but he didn't seem bothered by what he said in the slightest.

"Well, at least we know your evil past-self valued friendship," Borassos said as he cast a glowing light on his shield and peered into the darkness. "That's a good sign."

They ducked into a small opening and packed into a fairly tight tunnel.

"My cave is just beyon–" Elgoth stopped mid-word and stared at the small door in front of him. It looked as if it were made from old ship planks, but the knob shone bright brass in the light of Borassos' shield. It hadn't tarnished at all. "That definitely was not here when I left. Who has dared to move into my cave?"

Elgoth reached out. Rev felt a chill slide down her neck. This wasn't right. There was no one here to build a door, so the door shouldn't exist. And the knob should look worn, not new. "Elgoth, wait!" she called but it was too late.

Elgoth touched the knob, and several red eyes blinked open from the knots in the wood. The planks bowed forward and opened like the jaws of a shark, displaying dripping teeth. A long red tongue snaked out of the door's mouth and slapped Elgoth across the face, then wrapped around his hand, lashing him to the knob.

Borassos prayed and the planks of the door caught on fire, but Elgoth shouted as the flames moved closer to his hand. Merantha stepped up and blasted the door, knocking it into the chamber beyond, glowing with a strange green light. The blast pulled Elgoth too, and he crashed onto the chamber floor. He stabbed at the door while Fitzmina headbutted it, creating a convincing knocking sound. They faintly heard Bastard's voice from the cave entrance call, "Who's there?"

Triton threw his thorn whip, wrapped it around the door-creature, then pulled it back toward the party, freeing Elgoth. The thing turned into a pathetic pink mass and it flattened out on the floor, dead. "About this safe house, Elgoth," Triton said as the thorns retracted back into his hand.

"I assure you it was safe when I left." Elgoth wiped the mimic's drool off his hand. With the threat gone, they all cautiously stepped into the chamber. The strange green light glowed from lichen clinging to the walls. On the other side of the chamber, a small trickle of water flowed down over rocks into a clear pool that shimmered a pretty turquoise in the phosphorescent light. The effect was both strange and beautiful. A passage had been walled off with loose stones on the other side of the pool. Elgoth smiled as he looked around. "You must taste the lichen," he insisted, licking one of the glowing rocks. "It's delicious. It tastes like berries."

Rev wondered if the lichen did more than taste good. If it caused hallucinations, that would explain a few things. Ruanea produced her magic hand and had it pick off a bit of the lichen as she inspected it, then she noticed another note tucked in the rocks of the wall. She had the ghost hand pluck it out and bring it over. She cleared her throat. Triton moved over to the pool and splashed some water on his chest before scooping up a bit in his hands to drink as Ruanea read.

"_Elf,_

"_I have not seen a camp in quite some time. Have you returned to the surface? Is this your game? You win my heart and make me your friend, only to leave me without ever showing your face to me?_

"_You have been my enemy for nearly two decades. You have won my respect, then my appreciation, and finally my affection, and throughout this time you taunt me from afar. Are you mocking me?_

"_I no longer have the stomach for gutting you._

"_Instead I will poison you and keep you prisoner and slowly torment you in the same fashion you have tormented me!_

"_When I catch you, my revenge will be slow and torturous, you foul bastard elf of the island!_

"_E."_

Triton spit out the water he had been drinking in a spray that created a prismatic rainbow in the glowing light.

"I assure you I didn't poison _this_ water." Elgoth looked at him like he was stupid. "That would have poisoned me."

Rev raised one eyebrow as she took the note from Ruanea's magic hand and read it over again. "I will not say anything for your madness, Elgoth, but I approve of your plot for vengeance. The pain of it would have lingered."

He tilted his head and his dark hair fell over one of his glittering eyes. "Thank you, Revenge."

Triton came out of the pool and found another note under a rock. "Shall I?" he said, holding it up.

They all motioned for him to continue. He held it out and read.

"_E,_

"_Still no camp! Clearly you fear my wrath. Clearly you understand that I have won our little war! Why else have you fled? I would fear me too!_

"_Well, I wouldn't fear me, because I fear nothing! But if I were a coward (such as yourself) I would fear me!_

"_Are you truly gone from me?_

"_Good riddance._

"_E._

"_P.S. I am leaving my last blood-pulp ink shell and my writing stick if you want to write on the back of this last sheet of paper._

"_P.P.S. You are truly gone?_

"_P.P.P.S. Come back._

"_P.P.P.P.S. Fine! I'll come find you myself. Two decades you have evaded me, I shall return to the surface where you will finally be mine!"_

Rev could swear that she saw Elgoth blushing as he tried to look away from them. She chuckled to herself. "A love story for the ages. I should write a song."

He spun around and glared at her. "Don't you dare."

Rev hummed sweetly as she moved closer to the pool to refill her water skein. As she bent down, a ripple flowed over the surface of the water, then another. She backed up and drew her swords. "Elgoth?"

He looked at the water, then immediately shielded his eyes. "Do not look! It can mesmerize you with its gaze!"

Just then the solid stone wall next to them collapsed in a heap of rubble. Rev did as Elgoth said and turned away from whatever had just broken through the stone. She could hear an insect-like hissing and the clacking of armored jaws. Elgoth shouted and his swords clanged against something. He had to be fighting blind.

Ruanea lifted her hands and a cloud of fog engulfed the far side of the room. Rev looked around. She could see Triton, Borassos, and Ruanea, but Elgoth and Merantha were engulfed by the mist.

Merantha let out a bloodcurdling scream of pain. Rev wasn't sure what to do. She couldn't fight something she couldn't see. She moved next to Borassos and sang a song of courage that she remembered from her father in battle. He straightened, as Triton pulled out his wand and sent the blue shards of magic flying into the cloud.

They heard Merantha curse and a blast that sent rocks clattering down from the wall somewhere within the cloud of fog. Elgoth's swords still clanged against the shell of whatever horror lingered in the fog. "I've got him," Merantha shouted.

Ruanea let go of her spell and the mist around the creature disappeared. Rev saw Merantha on the ground, holding an intense stare with an enormous beetle looking creature with long arms ending in clawed hands. A set of curving mandibles branched out from either side of its jaw as the slanted pupils in its glowing eyes stared blankly at Merantha.

"What is that thing?!" Rev shouted, completely repulsed.

"It's an umber hulk!" Elgoth shouted back, still holding his arm over his eyes as he wildly swung his sword. Ruanea cast a spell that cracked through the carapace of the umber hulk's body. The beast shuddered, then broke it's gaze away from Merantha.

Rev let out a sharp curse and lowered her eyes. Now knowing the size and location of the creature, she pictured it in her mind, took hold of her swords, and with her eyes down on the ground ran forward until she saw the beast's large feet in front of her. Once below it, she stabbed up into the exposed lower part of the creature's body, then dashed back out.

Triton's whip flew from the other side of the room as Borassos stood staring at a rock with a blank look on his face, clearly mesmerized. Elgoth continued slashing away, his sword bouncing off the umber hulk's armor. A ferocious icy wind blew past Rev, and ice spread over the umber hulk's cracked shell. It fell dead on the floor.

Rev blew out a breath. "Bugs," she muttered to herself, thinking back on the day that they had explored the old Halborn estate and the worst they had to deal with were some spiders. She wouldn't mind going back there now.

Elgoth continued to swing his sword, occasionally connecting with the umber hulk's carapace and shouting taunts at the dead creature. Triton reached him and put a hand on his shoulder, ducking a swing, before he gently pulled Elgoth's free arm down so the elf could see.

"Oh, good," Elgoth announced. "He's dead. I hate those things."

Rev remembered how he had frenetically chopped the giant centipede in the kitchen of the Halborn estate to pieces, and now she finally understood why he hated bugs so much. She had a feeling more horrors awaited through the tunnel the umber hulk had broken through the wall. Rev sighed and waved her hand in invitation as she peered into the deep black of the tunnel.

Merantha shook Borassos out of his stupor as Elgoth ducked into the tunnel and Rev followed. Ruanea and Triton fell in behind her. It didn't take long before they came to an enormous cavern chamber. Scattered throughout the chamber were the remnants of insect-like and grizzly chunks of thick pelt of creatures unknown. They could hear a wet sucking sound, and Rev looked through the darkness to the left. A giant white worm with tentacles reaching out of its head feasted on the rotting carcass of some sort of monster.

"Not another maggot," Rev muttered.

"What maggot?" Borassos asked.

Elgoth drew his sword. "I will describe it for those of you with inferior senses," he said. "It is a maggot the size of a pregnant cow with tentacles on its face. It's that way." He pointed as Borassos recoiled at his description.

Ruanea let out another blast of cold toward the worm, while Triton lit his crossbow bolts with magical fire. Elgoth followed Ruanea's lead and froze the creature as well, allowing Rev to run up to the giant maggot, stab it in an eye, and then retreat back to her friends. Merantha sent a blast out in the right direction, hitting the creature, then Ruanea froze it to death.

The light from Borassos's shield glowed around them, making the light feel like a safe harbor, or Ruanea's little purple dome, but Rev knew it couldn't keep the horrors within these caves at bay. To their left, what little light there was disappeared into another chamber. To the right, the same, light bled into deep black.

"I will send Fitzmina ahead," Elgoth said, moving closer to the dark entrance to the other chambers on the left. He went still as the small floating skull disappeared into the shadows.

"This first chamber appears empty," Elgoth said. "Continuing on. In the next chamber, there are at least three hairy things hunched over."

"Well, that doesn't sound good," Borassos said, holding his lit shield closer.

"I will check the other side," Elgoth said, crossing the dark chamber to the tunnel on the right. He went still again and Fitzmina bobbed slowly into the darkness. "Fitzmina is having difficulty seeing," Elgoth said. He furrowed his brow. "But I hear tapping. There's something in there. They are talking to one another. Yes, now I see them. Hard-shelled black creatures. They are tapping hooks on the rocks. I don't know how many."

"They know we're here," Borassos said as Fitzmina flew back out. "They're setting up an ambush."

"Then best we get them, before they get us," Rev said. Ruanea nodded.

Borassos lifted his hands and closed his eyes. The chambers around them began to rumble as stalactites fell from the ceiling of the cavern. Rev peered into the chamber. Three strange creatures with vulture-like faces and giant hooks where wings should have been scrambled on their backs, struggling like overturned turtles.

"They're on the ceiling," Rev called.

Merantha blasted the horrors as they righted themselves. One of them scrambled forward and slashed a hook at Borassos, but he ducked beneath it. Fitzmina flew by as Elgoth attacked with his swords.

Three more of these hooked horrors dropped down from the ceiling and clacked bony beaks at them. They gathered at the narrow entrance to the chamber, with one of the horrors blocking the way to the others. As Elgoth lifted his arm to slash, Rev slunk around him close enough to feel his warmth before stabbing the creature in the leg.

Borassos barged into the room and swung his hammer, whacking away at the strange beast. A flaming bolt flew past Rev's ear. She felt the heat of it touch her cheek before it hit one of the horrors in the neck.

Elgoth ran up next to Borassos, furious in his attacks. The beast screeched and swung his hooks. Elgoth threw up a magical shield, but Borassos got caught in the side. The rumbling started again, and more rocks fell down from the ceiling as another fiery bolt flew from Triton's crossbow.

"Everyone get down," Ruanea said as her hands glowed so bright, for a moment the entire cavern was illuminated.

Rev realized what she was about to do, and ducked.

A ball of fire erupted from her and barreled through the opening. Rev felt the wave of heat so intense, it heated the blades in her hands to a degree that she felt it through the leather wrapping the grip.

Everything in the cavern exploded.


	19. Chapter 19

Dungeons & Dragons/Saltmarsh

Episode 19

Rev looked up with the blast still ringing in her ears. She had to squint at the sudden brightness as half of the chamber was on fire. The blast had missed the two creatures in the corner battling Borassos and Elgoth, but it hit the other two on the far side, while two more had been burnt to a crisp. The ones that managed to survive the blast screeched and shook the fire from their beetle-like backs. Smoke curled up to the chamber ceiling from their charred hooks.

Merantha ran forward into the chamber. The light of the small fires burning on the columns of rock dramatically illuminated her as she pulled the fiery air around her. She blasted the hooked beast deepest in the chamber sending it flying backward as Elgoth fought with the two nearest the entrance.

The creature Merantha blasted used one of its long hooks to flip back over, then scrambled across the chamber, up the wall, and onto the ceiling. Rev moved into position between Elgoth and Borassos to try to help, but her swords did little against the hard, black shells of the beasts. The smoke burned her eyes and she fought not to cough. She had to focus, or death would find her on this god-forsaken island.

Triton entered the room and hit the one on the ceiling with one of his fiery bolts. Just then, the creature in the corner managed to shake the lingering flames from his back and rushed forward, brutally slashing Triton in the back.

Elgoth stabbed one through the neck and turned to the other near Borassos. It swung a barbed hook at him, but he ducked beneath the claw.

The creature that hit Triton turned on Merantha and struck her with one of its hooks. Merantha's face deformed, turning into a horrific visage as she hissed at the creature. It immediately caught on fire that burned with a hellish heat.

Rev backed away, even as Merantha returned to normal and held a hand over her slashed stomach. Maybe she was right to fear the nature of her powers. Borassos ran to her as she collapsed. As he gathered her in his arms, he glowed, and Merantha's torn abdomen healed.

Ruanea finally followed them serenely into the chamber, took one look at the burning remains of her blast, then casually iced the one on the ceiling, freezing it to the rocks.

Rev turned and as she did so, she found a vulnerable spot beneath one of the hook creature's armor as it raised a hook to slash at Elgoth. She stabbed it, then twisted and ducked behind a stalagmite.

Rev heard the sound of ice cracking and shattering as the hook creature on the ceiling broke free of the ice holding it in place and crawled along the roof of the cave toward the center of the chamber. Merantha pulled away from Borassos and let out a furious shout as she blasted it twice. It fell dead to the floor. At the same moment, Fitzmina flew straight at the face of the final creature. It reared up, and Elgoth stabbed its exposed underbelly. It made a pathetic whimpering noise as it fell dead.

Rev let out a sigh of relief and joined the others in the center of the room. "Is everyone alright?" Merantha seemed steady on her feet as she nodded, but Rev turned and saw the blood flowing down Triton's back like a red cape.

"Triton!" she placed a hand on his shoulder, and he winced. He turned to her and smiled.

"Don't worry, I've been worse. I'm still standing. So, it's best we continue on." He shuddered, then straightened and walked proudly toward the back of the chamber. Again, Rev wondered about the sea elf. He seemed pale, and so out of place in these dark caverns, and he hadn't been in water in a long time. Surely the fire had taken its toll on him.

Soldiers baffled her. She understood loyalty to a captain and a crew. That part of it she could respect, but there was something about soldiers' loyalty to a cause that she never quite understood, and every soldier that she knew seemed willing to die for it. Rev could never willingly sacrifice her life for anything except perhaps to save her crew.

She had watched her mother go down with a ship, and she knew no matter how much pride she had as a captain, she couldn't do that either, not without reason. She had to live. If she were dead, she could not be the force of retribution she needed to be to bring justice to a world soaking in greed and betrayal.

"Elgoth," she said, turning away from the stalwart sea elf, and his wounded back. "We should send Fitzmina ahead."

At first Elgoth bristled, but then he looked thoughtful. "You're right. Better the witch dies than us." He motioned to the floating skull with his hand, and she morosely floated into the next room. His eyes turned white as he openly stared without seeing. "The room is empty, but for a single thread of spider silk stretching across the chamber."

Feeling confident, they entered the next room. Borassos lifted his shield, and the light caught on the thin thread of silk stretched at about chest level across the chamber. It thickened from a hair's breadth in the center, to a cord the thickness of a good sailing rope on either side as it disappeared into two small holes bored into the rock.

"I don't like the look of this," Merantha said. Rev agreed. It definitely looked like a trap. On the far side of the chamber, a small opening looked partially blocked by a round rock.

"I will go inspect it," Elgoth said as he ducked low and crept forward. He had ducked low enough, but a small tuft of hair stuck up from the short ponytail holding his hair from his eyes.

"Elgoth, look out!" Merantha called. He froze, but it was too late. His ponytail touched the thread and it broke.

Something rumbled, and Rev jumped back and bracing for falling rocks or some other disaster, but the two sides of the spider-silk rope fluttered harmlessly to the floor. It felt like everyone held their breath. Slowly Elgoth rose. "That wasn't much of a trap."

Borassos came forward. "But the way is shut, unless we can move that rock." He crossed the room and pushed against it. "It won't budge."

Ruanea gave him an annoyed look and rolled up her sleeves. She pushed against the rock and managed to move it a few inches to the side. Rev, still on high alert, noticed something in the corner of her eye. The strand coming from the wall, moved. Ruanea pushed the rock out of the way enough that one of them might slip through the hole, but as soon as she let go, it rolled back into place.

"It's no use," she declared.

Borassos puffed his chest up. "I loosened it for you."

Rev walked over to the strand and touched it, then peered into the small hole in the wall. "I wonder where it goes."

"I could find out," Triton declared. "I could turn into a spider and see what is down the tunnel."

"No," Elgoth protested. "You will be too easily killed in that form." Everyone looked at him in shock, including Triton.

"He's right, and there will be no way for us to help you," Rev added.

"But there is no other way forward. I promise, I will take care," Triton insisted. "I will be so small, hopefully nothing will notice my presence." Everyone looked uneasy as Triton transformed into a tiny blue spider with green markings and crawled into the hole.

Rev held her breath, not daring to let it go until the tiny blue and green spider emerged from the hole once more. Triton resumed his natural form. "The rope leads down several feet to a pulley. Then it turns and leads to a mechanism with more pulleys."

Rev furrowed her brow. When Ruanea moved the rock, the rope moved. The two were connected. "I'm going to pull it."

"It could still be a trap," Merantha cautioned. "Or an alarm."

Rev shrugged as she picked up the rope. If it was an alarm, Rev had the feeling that whatever spun it already knew they were there. "I want to pull it."

Borassos threw up his hands and backed up to the wall. The others also cleared the center of the room. Rev gripped the rope, hauled it over her shoulder like a heavy coil, and marched toward the center of the room using her weight to lean into her shoulder and tug on the cord. The rock shifted. As she turned to look, the rope slipped over her shoulder, and the rock fell back into place. That's it!

Rev quickly crossed the room and picked up the other cord. "I'm going to pull on this one. I'm in the mood to tug on things."

Elgoth coughed suddenly, and Rev turned around, surprised by the sound. Was he blushing? He looked away from her and rubbed the back of his tattooed neck. Rev raised one eyebrow, baffled by his reaction. Enough nonsense, she had work to do. Rev hauled the other rope over her shoulder and walked forward. The rock moved again. "Borassos, get the other one!"

Seeming determined to make up for his pathetic attempt to move the stone, Borassos heaved the rope and pulled it toward Rev. As they came together in the center of the room, the rock completely cleared the small opening. "Someone, tie it, quick!" Rev called. Only then did she realize that the two sailors were the ones holding the ropes. Damn. No one else could tie a decent knot.

Elgoth hurried forward and made an attempt at the knot that reminded her of his struggle to lash the young trees together. They wouldn't have long to get through the hole before his tie came loose and the rock rolled shut again. Elgoth hesitantly let go of his knot, and Rev and Borassos released the ropes.

"Everyone, get through quickly," Triton said as he motioned for the others to follow. He disappeared through the hole, and one by one each member of the party slipped through. Rev ducked through right before Elgoth. Fitzmina flew by her shoulder as he emerged from the hole just before the rock rolled shut, trapping a corner of his leather coat.

"And you claim I cannot tie a knot," he muttered, pulling his coat free.

Something growled in the corner and they looked up to see three hunched creatures with shaggy white fur huddled around a bloody corpse that also seemed to have a chunk of matted and bloody white fur. Blood stained their hands and faces. Great, more unknown cannibalistic creatures, and this time they had disturbed supper.

All of the monsters' eyes seemed fixed on either Ruanea or Elgoth, and they sniffed through noses both human and wolf-like. Whatever they smelled enraged them, because they gnashed their teeth at the elves.

Triton leapt forward and pushed a wave of punishing thunder ahead of him. It rolled over the monsters but didn't kill them. Rev held her hands over her ears at the sound filled the cave. The monsters howled in pain, shaking their heads, then fixed murderous eyes on Triton.

One leapt forward on large canine legs and tore into Triton who cried out in agony. The air around Ruanea charged with power as she spoke a spell, and the unmistakable sound of breaking bones filled the chamber. Rev couldn't tell if it was from the spell or Triton as he buckled under the weight of the attacking beast who let out a yelp of pain, but the sound triggered the second to attack.

The third one leapt at Borassos, but its claws and teeth scratched harmlessly against Borassos' plate mail.

Triton fell to the floor with a glassy, dead look in his eyes, his face slack and lifeless. Rev swung her cloak over her and scrambled flat on the ground, hoping the cloak would make her blend into the floor. She pushed as close as she could to Triton, and reached out, splaying her hand over his still heart. His hot blood coated her palm. She closed her eyes and sang the healing song of her father, hoping it wasn't too late for the sea elf so far from his home.

His chest swelled under her palm, and Rev felt his heart beat once, and again, and again. She pulled her hand back and hid beneath her cloak. Elgoth shouted and something hit the ground behind her, then she saw the moon elf's boots standing over Triton's prone body. She backed further away, coming to her feet. From beneath the hood of the cloak, she watched Elgoth fighting the beast, his scimitar cutting through the darkness with a glowing blue light.

Triton's gaze met hers, and he nodded before pulling himself painfully to his feet. Suddenly his feet grew and turned scaly with two enormous claws curving from reptilian feet. He let out a squealing roar displaying a mouth filled with razor sharp teeth, as his pupils lengthened into reptilian slits, turning into a dinosaur before their eyes.

Ruanea shot one of the monsters with frost, undisturbed by the sudden appearance of a man-sized dinosaur in the room. Borassos ran forward and smashed his hammer into the skull of one of the creatures with a mighty shout. As he did, Rev leapt forward from under her cloak and stabbed it, the monster crumpling to the cave floor between them.

Borassos looked up at her hurt, as if his pride couldn't take Ruanea moving the rock, then Rev stealing his kill. "You loosened him for me," she insisted, and Borassos smiled.

Elgoth continued to slash at the last two, one clearly weakened by broken legs. He gutted the one, then just as the last turned to run from the fearsome elf, Triton bit his head off.

Elgoth wiped his blade off on the back of one of the creatures, then pointed it at Triton. "Of all the things you could choose to be, you chose this?"

The dinosaur, waved his puny arms and made a guttural noise in the back of his throat, then blinked in response.

"How do you even know what a dinosaur looks like? I don't imagine there are many swimming around in the ocean." Elgoth sheathed his blade. "Not ones with legs anyway."

Triton crossed his little arms.

Transforming seemed to have healed him, but Rev didn't think he could change back without taking on his former injuries.

"At least now he can do the eating, instead of being eaten." Elgoth kicked the decapitated head.

Rev sheathed her own blade. "Do you think sea elves taste like fish?" she teased, sharing a glance with Elgoth. Triton lashed his tail toward her, smacking her across the thigh. "Ow!"

"I would ask these creatures, but they are dead." Elgoth found Fitzmina inspecting one of the dead bodies. "Go on ahead, witch."

Fitzmina floated into the next chamber but came out again almost as quickly as Elgoth paled. "There's a drider."

Rev cursed. "Anything else?" she asked him.

"Fitzmina did not stay for long, but the chamber ahead looks to be some sort of residence. She saw a bed, and a fire, and the cursed one is standing at a table drinking something." Elgoth immediately pulled his blade.

Rev shuddered. While the sailors aboard the Blackwind would scare each other on dark nights with tales of monsters from the deep, every once in a while, her elf father would spin a tale about the driders, dark elves that had failed their spider queen, and been turned into monsters, walking around on arachnid legs. Rev looked down at the hairy bodies on the floor. If there was a drider here, they had to be quaggoths, the cannibalistic guard dogs of the underdark. Rev wanted out of this cave, now. "What do we do?"

"He knows we're here. We haven't exactly been quiet," Ruanea said, crossing her arms as she looked at the pile of bodies.

"But he doesn't know what we are. For all he knows, the quaggoths could have gotten into a fight. After all, they were eating one of their own," Rev argued. "How do we trick him? We could skin the quaggoths and wear their pelts as a disguise."

Triton cocked his dinosaur head to the side staring at her with one eye.

Elgoth also turned in her with an incredulous look on his face. "You can be quite brutal."

"Thanks," Rev said.

"It would take too long to skin these creatures, and driders are very intelligent. I don't think we can deceive him. That thunderclap was hardly subtle." Elgoth sent Triton a withering look. Then puffed himself up. "When you live hundreds of years, it is difficult to be tricked," his gaze traced up and down Rev. "I guess you wouldn't live to see hundreds of years so it doesn't matter for you."

"Considering you are bound to the life of a baby kraken that lives in a cave full of hungry, murderous, and cannibalistic monsters," she said, passing near Elgoth. "I'll take my odds at outliving you."

Borassos laughed behind his hand.

Triton made a noise and waved his hands, clearly trying to tell them something.

Elgoth shook his head. "Will you stop. We can't understand you when you talk to us that way." Triton hung his large head.

"I could try to charm him," Merantha suggested.

"I don't think that will work," Rev said. "He's mostly drow, and anyone with elf blood can't be charmed. At least I can't, and I assume it's the same for those with full blood, Ruanea, Elgoth?"

Ruanea looked confused, and Elgoth shrugged. "Only lesser beings succumb to charm."

Rev shook her head then looked at the narrow passage. She didn't want to be the first to go through it. It would be better if they could bring the drider here. Then they could set up an ambush. "I could play my flute and see if we can lure him to us."

"That's worth a try," Borassos said.

Rev took out her tin pipe and played a song, trying to make it as intriguing and captivating as possible. She played for several minutes, then waited, stashing her tin pipe, and drawing her swords, ready for the ambush with the others. The drider didn't take the bait.

"Now what?" Borassos mumbled.

Ruanea turned her hand over in a motion like catching a wave of water, and three balls of light appeared. She made them dance into the corridor.

Again they waited, ready for an attack.

Rev kept her grip loose on her swords, her heart pounding in anticipation. Something shuffled in the corridor. She brought the tip of her sword up.

A white muzzle appeared followed by a shaggy white face.

Everyone sprung an attack at once, and the quaggoth fell the second it came through the opening.

But there were two more behind it.


	20. Chapter 20

Dungeons & Dragons/Saltmarsh

Episode 20

As the two other quaggoths climbed over the fallen corpse, the fight was on. Rev sprang into action slashing the first one through the narrow cave entrance. Triton backed up to the wall of the chamber and charged forward, pouncing on the quaggoth with his knife-like claws on his toes. They fall to the ground, tumbling together.

Merantha moved to the center of the room and blasted at the quaggoth still in the tunnel, but she missed and Rev heard the sound of pots shattering in the chamber beyond. The drider in the other room let out an alarmed shout.

The quaggoth climbed forward, placing his dragging arms on Triton as he tried to crawl over the writhing mass of fur and scales still battling on the floor, but Ruanea hit him with a withering blast of ice that froze in his white fur.

Triton lifted his head high for just enough time for Borassos to get a swing in, smashing the quaggoth in the head as Elgoth stabbed at the same time. Then Elgoth climbed up onto Triton and the two dead quaggoths beneath him so he could stab his scimitar through the neck of the last one.

Suddenly a darkness descended on the passage, an inky black so thick and deep, it looked like the depths of the ocean had descended on the air in front of her. Rev backed up instinctively. Normally she could see in the dark, and to be blinded disconcerted her. She couldn't see Elgoth or Triton at all, or the pile of quaggoths. The drider was coming.

A squealing roar came from the black. Merantha and Ruanea sent spells flying blindly into the pitch. More pottery and wood broke somewhere down the passage.

Rev huffed a deep breath, held her sword fast, then ran into the utter darkness. She felt the bodies of the quaggoths beneath her as she clambered forward. A putrid stench hit her, reeking of dead flesh rotting in an animal's gut. The hot breath broke in a wave over her face, and with her eyes wide, but seeing nothing, she stabbed feeling her blade sink into flesh and hearing the quaggoth snarl in pain in front of her. Something brushed against her side, a leathery hide that was cool to the touch, Triton.

Rev kept a hand resting on his back as the dinosaur dashed out of the inky black pulling Rev with him. The normal dark almost hurt her eyes in its brightness. Borassos' shield glowed like the sun in the chamber. Triton again backed up to the wall and charged into the fray.

Merantha grabbed her staff and ran into the darkness. Something crashed, then a terrified scream filled the chamber. "The drider is on the ceiling!"

Ruanea and Borassos looked at each other, then both charged into the darkness. A sudden rush of wind filled the cave and pulled Rev toward the tunnel. Elgoth smiled, twirled his glowing scimitar in a graceful loop, then disappeared into the black, leaving Rev alone.

"Are you the witch that has been breaking my pots?" an unfamiliar voice shouted.

Rev tightened her grip on her swords and ran forward. She stumbled over the quaggoth bodies, and felt the rough wall of the passage rubbing against her shoulder as she pushed on through the darkness. As she came out of the darkness, again she was blinded by the sudden light, although it was nothing more than Borassos' shield and a fire burning on the far side of what was a living chamber.

Caged by legs. Spider legs. Rev looked up, following the torso of an elf with dark purple-gray skin and white hair. The gleam of light caught on the sword he held above her.

"I believe in you, short-tips," Elgoth whispered as he passed by her side to position himself near the drider's legs. A jolt of shock like lightning erupted in her, and Rev swung her blades with two brutal strikes right at the belly of the spider-elf.

She backed up, still reeling from Elgoth's words, and convincing herself she hadn't heard what she thought she heard, as Triton charged forward with his deadly jaws stretched wide. Rev's heart pounded nearly out of her chest and she felt cold, then hot, then light on her feet as Merantha blasted the drider back and Rueanea immediately followed her blast with a fiery one of her own.

Elgoth ran forward into the fire, his torn leather coat flying behind him as he cut at one of the monster's legs.

"You puny humans come into my lair, only to be eaten," the drider said, then laughed, even as his dark blood rained down from the spider's belly.

Triton, Elgoth, and Ruanea suddenly start glowing with a strange purple light as the drider retreated through another cavern tunnel. He whistled, and two more slobbering quaggoth's come running toward them from the far side of the lair.

Rev ran to meet them, stabbing one while turing out of the way of his swinging claws, then she ducked back. Merantha followed her and blasted the creature, knocking it back as it collapsed dead, but they didn't slow the second quaggoth that galloped forward and leapt on Triton's back. Ruanea was quick, shooting the one on Triton with her ice, while Borassos turned and smacked it with his hammer.

Fitzmina flew by, forcing the quaggoth to rear up just at the moment where Rev could pierce it through its ribs.

With adrenaline still rushing through her, Rev pulled her sword from the dead creature and moved deeper into the room. A chest stood by the fire on the far side of the chamber.

She glanced down the passage where the drider had disappeared. The edges of the rock were coated in webs.

Ruanea moved closer to the chest and flicked her hand, producing her magical purple one. She used it to open the chest, and a poof of green smoke emerged. Thankfully everyone was on the far side of the chamber, so Ruanea ignored the poison and pulled out some healing potions and a sack of gold.

The oil lamps flickered as Rev took the loot from the magical hand and stashed them in her bag. If someone had to get close to heal someone, she'd rather it be her than Ruanea, who had no way to protect herself if she got too close to danger.

Triton transformed back into an elf, though he couldn't stand upright. Rev ran to him to help hold him up. His back started bleeding again. "Here, this will fix things," he said, and a golden light formed a column, like an angelic cave formation. He pulled away from Rev and walked through it, coming out clean and healed on the other side.

Merantha and the others stepped through it as well, but Rev didn't have a scratch on her. She had either gotten very lucky, or her skill at evasion, along with her willingness to use the cloak she had purchased from Xendros, had done wonders. Perhaps it was a battle strategy she should hone in the future. She had no pride or qualms about cutting things, then running.

Rev looked into the drider's lair. "What do you think we are in for now?"

"Go see what is in there, witch," Elgoth commanded, and Fitzmina flew into the dark tunnel. Elgoth went still. "It's a maze and covered in webs. Grab your torches, everyone." His eyes returned to normal. "We're going to have to burn our way through."

"Woosh," Triton said, standing tall once more.

Elgoth gave him a puzzled look. "What was that?"

"What?" Triton returned his bafflement.

"That noise you made. Is it some sort of spell?" Elgoth drew his sword and walked to the entrance to the drider's maze.

"No, I was just making the sound…" Borassos placed a hand on Triton's shoulder and gently shook his head. "Right, so, off we go."

In spite of Elgoth's enthusiasm for burning things, they depended on the light of Borassos's shield to illuminate the webbed passages around them. Burning the webs would only smoke them out of the cave, and they still needed to find the baby kraken to secure Callie's shard, though Rev was losing heart for finishing the task. At the moment, she only wanted to be done with all of it. Her anger seethed under her skin, and she wasn't feeling particularly merciful as she wound through the twists and turns of the spider maze.

While the cavern tunnels felt natural, passages formed by the earth or underground tides, or perhaps the burrowing habits of the umber hulk, these passages felt like an evil hedge maze, deliberate and disorienting. The walls around them had been formed by solid webs, and Rev had no desire to test them, for fear of getting trapped in one and becoming the drider's next meal.

So it left them no choice but to wind through the maze staying close to Borassos's shield, and making decisions to turn right, left, or continue on, as they came to each intersection.

Ruanea stepped through the sticky webs like a cat walking through mud. She picked up each foot with a deliberate yank and hesitated just slightly before placing it down again. Merantha had her hands out, ready to blast anything that came near. She kept looking up, watching for the drider to come crawling over the ceiling again.

The maze opened up into a large chamber full of webs. On the far side a boulder rose up out of the webs, which was odd. The webbing covered everything else in milky-white threads.

"Um." Merantha pointed. "Is that rock moving?"

"Don't be ridiculous, rocks don't move," Elgoth dismissed.

"You said that about the tree," Merantha argued.

"Well the tree, yes, it was actually walking, but this rock…" Elgoth turned toward it, then took a step back and drew his sword. "This rock is walking as well."

The rock slowly rose as the ground beneath them quaked. It shuddered and two heavy arms broke off the side of the boulder.

"What do you want?" Elgoth shouted at the creature.

"It's a rock!" Rev shouted back at him. "You can't reason with a rock!"

He bent down and picked up a pair of small stones, then clacked them together in a syncopated pattern.

"Now what are you doing?" Rev sheathed her swords. They would be no use to her now.

"I'm talking to it, now leave me be," Elgoth snapped back, clacking the rocks louder.

"We have got to get you off this island," Rev braced herself for the attack.

Merantha pushed between them. "Enough of this nonsense." She let out a blast. Ruanea too followed up with a spell, and cracks formed in the rock's surface. The rock thrashed as Triton used one of his spells to make the rock glow a bright yellow-green. It illuminated the webbing around them in a strange way, and cast moving shadows around them.

The elemental rumbled like the sound of a landslide, then shook as it slowly sank into the ground. The floor shook so violently Rev had to fight the instinct to lean against one of the webbed walls. Suddenly the elemental rose up from the ground directly in front of them. Elgoth let out a war cry and foolishly ran forward with his scimitar, striking at the rock. Rev hoped he hit at an angle that would at least sharpen his blade, because she didn't think that anything else would do any good. Then again, the scimitar was imbued with ice, and ice could crack boulders if it reached the right crevice, so maybe he wasn't completely out of his wits.

The rest of the party moved forward and fought. Rev had a chance to watch them. Ruanea with her ice, Merantha and her blasts of magical force, Borassos swinging his hammer. In the darkness, facing a monster, they looked like the heroes they were.

"Hey rock!" Rev shouted. It was all she could think to do. Maybe she could distract it. "Are you dense?"

The rock paused for a moment. Rev's heart pounded. So, it could hear her. She wondered how that worked without ears. The rock brought its arms out to the sides, and attempted to smash Elgoth, and Borassos's heads together. Instead it missed and ended up crashing its arms together and sending bits of rock flying through the chamber. They caught in the webs, shaking the filaments around them. Elgoth and Borassos smiled at each other, then attacked at once.

Merantha blasted the creature back. Rev smiled as she stepped forward and shouted. "You are weak, we could defeat you with nothing but a piece of paper."

Triton's whip cracked past her to hit the monster. The monster disappeared back into the ground. they all looked down, and attempted to stay on their feet as the ground shook again. This time the monster rose behind Borassos and Merantha.

"Look out!" Rev screamed.

Borassos ducked out of the way, but the creature struck Merantha and she fell to the floor. Elgoth slashed the creature so hard with his scimitar that sparks ignited off the blade like a flint. "I don't think I have the right weapon for this job," Elgoth called, but ice filled into the cracks that Ruanea had created in the creatures chest, and piece by piece, chunks of rock fell away from the elemental until it lay as a pile of rubble at their feet.

Suddenly they heard a wounded cry from somewhere above them. "No you fools!" The drider was watching.

Ruanea helped Merantha up. "Are you injured."

She cradled one arm. "I'll be fine. Let's go."

The continued on through the maze until Rev felt like they were going in circles. Every so often she swore she could hear a deep voice laughing quietly. "Come at us, we'll finish what we started," Rev warned the voice. Triton heard her again, but this time he gave her an approving nod.

Once again, the maze opened up into a chamber, and they spotted three giant iguana-like lizards lounging in the webbing. The reptiles all raised their heads and frills, staring at them intently. They looked just like the creatures the lizardfolk had in their stables.

Elgoth shouted and let out a blast of ice. One of the lizards hissed and climbed up the wall. Ruanea and Borassos made to fight. Merantha blasted one off the ceiling.

"Get out of here while you can," Rev shouted. To her surprise, the lizard obeyed. It scrambled toward the nearest opening and disappeared into the darkness. The one that had fallen from the ceiling on its back whipped its tail, helping it to flip over, and it followed the other one out. Elgoth sent another blast of ice at the last, but it too ran away.

"You know," Rev said. "They might not have meant us harm."

"I'm not waiting around to figure out what does and does not want to eat us in this cave," Elgoth declared.

Rev nodded. "Fair."

The next room they came to contained a carrion crawler. Elgoth and Borassos attacked it, and it slurped away into the darkness.

Exhausted and on edge, they were cautious as they came to the next large room. Nothing jumped out at them, but it looked like the remains of an old encampment. Elgoth perked up, then shook his head as he realized this was not the encampment of his mythical adversary elf that never existed outside of his own skin.

But the robes on the two skeletons they found matched the ones Fitzmina had been wearing. "Elgoth?" Ruanea showed him the dusty remains.

"Yes, these were members of the Twisted Rune. I did not know they had delved this deep into the island." Elgoth contemplated the skeletons.

"What were they doing here?" Merantha asked.

"Don't know, don't care," Rev stated as she searched the camp. She found some useful odds and ends. A hammer, tinderbox, pitons and the like. "Fools should have known better than to sleep in a cave."

"I slept in this cave." Elgoth bristled.

"Exactly." Rev slapped her hands together to dust them off.

"Hey, come look over here." Borassos waved them over. In the center of the encampment, a strange hole coated with webs led straight down.

"We're going to have to go down that, aren't we?" Ruanea looked both exhausted and resigned.

Elgoth paled. "What does a baby kraken eat. Maybe we can distract it while we collect its blood."

Rev turned to him. "You should know! You were the one tasked with caring for it."

"I don't remember that," he snapped back.

Rev shook her head, pulled her swords, and dropped down into the hole. The webs caught her like a fishing net and she tumbled down until she landed with a thud on something soft. She braced on her hands, and the fine grains of sand coated her palms.

The sound of lapping water reached her ears and she both recoiled and rejoiced. They were out of the cave. Nearly so, anyway. Her eyes adjusted to the light coming in from a sea cave entrance, forming a small cove, much like the smuggler's hole below the Halborn estate back in Saltmarsh, only larger.

She rose to her feet, collecting her swords. There didn't seem to be a baby kraken to greet her. She felt strangely disappointed by this fact. "Come on down," she shouted. "It's safe."

The rest of her compatriots tumbled down the web and landed in the soft sand.

Triton immediately headed toward the water to wet his skin. As they turned, they all noticed a strange box sitting in the sand. It glowed with a golden light.

Ruanea and Elgoth moved forward to inspect it. Ruanea flicked out her magical hand, but it was Fitzmina who gently nudged the box.

A strange energy filled the air, and the box shook, then unfolded. Then unfolded again, and again. Planks magically formed, layering out like tiles and coming together until a small boat with oars and a short sail formed in front of them.

They all stood around in shock, but Fitzmina was delighted. She zoomed around the sea cave, then returned to the small ship. She looked over expectantly at Elgoth.

"I do not obey you, witch," Elgoth grumbled.

"What is she saying?" Rev asked.

"She told me to say…" and he spoke a word none of them could understand. As soon as he uttered it, the small ship before them unfolded and unfolded, just as the box had done until it transformed into a large ship, about the size of the Northwind they had once sailed on with Milo and Callie.

On the side in glittering gold letters shone the word, _Salvation._

"Salvation comes in the end," Merantha whispered with her eyes wide and her expression filled with awe. "That's what he said in my dream."

They all stood dumbstruck for a moment.

That's when Elgoth screamed. "YOU MEAN THIS SHIP WAS HERE THE WHOLE TIME!"


	21. Chapter 21

Dungeons & Dragons/Saltmarsh

Episode 21

"Who is the captain?" Ruanea asked. They all looked at one another in confusion, then slowly turned to Fitzmina. She bobbed up and down with her jaw set in a skeletal grin.

"It can't be," Elgoth muttered.

"Try folding the boat again, Elgoth," Triton suggested. Elgoth widened his stance and attempted to repeat whatever words had come out of him earlier, but it was to no avail. Then his eyes went white, and he muttered something. The boat folded, then folded, then folded again, until nothing remained but a wooden box in the shallows.

"It looks like Fitzmina is the captain," Elgoth admitted. "Or at least the boat is attuned to her," he turned to Rev. "Whatever you do, do not give her your hat. It would go straight to her skull."

Rev slumped down in the sand, dejected and defeated, only mildly certain they would not be eaten by a baby kraken on the beach.

"How long do you think this has been here, hmmmm, Elgoth?" Merantha taunted. "You searched this whole island for a way to get off, did ya?"

"I'm glad my twenty years of torture and torment on this island are amusing to you, Merantha." His voice took on a sharp and deadly edge.

"I think we are all a bit tired," Triton interjected in a very diplomatic manner. "Do you think this ship has someplace to rest? I am a bit weary of being outside," he admitted.

"It's built like the Northwind. There's probably only one cabin," Borassos assessed.

"I shall try to open it." Elgoth splayed his hand out and said "Open," in a very commanding voice, but nothing happened. Fitzmina plunked down on the top of the box, looking smug for an skull with a fixed expression.

"Whatever we do, we cannot let Rev take charge," Merantha said as she crossed her arms.

Red flashed behind Rev's eyes and she gritted her teeth. She had shed enough blood on this island, and didn't wish to shed more.

"I put my foot down right now," she insisted, and threw her hair over her shoulder. "She does not get to be the captain."

Rev was tempted to take her dagger and pin it through the warlock's boot, then laugh as she watched Merantha try to pick up that foot she just put down.

"Why?" Elgoth asked.

"I do not like being mutinied."

Funny, she was sounding a lot like a mutineer. Rev slowly got to her feet, keeping her hand on the hilt of her rapier.

Rev had had enough of all of them. She wandered over to the edge of the water and looked out through the cave to the bright light beyond. She put her fingers to her lips and let out an ear-shattering whistle. After a few minutes of Elgoth messing with the boat, determined to protect it at all costs, Bastard came flying in through the sea cove. He barreled into Rev's chest, his wide wings splayed across her chest in a strange sort of bird-like hug.

She wrapped her arms around him tucking in his wings, then he climbed up her shirt to her shoulder and preened her hair. "Glad to have my friend back," Rev whispered to him.

"Love you," he said softly in her ear, then shook out his feathers.

Merantha didn't know it, but she probably owed Bastard her life in that moment.

Triton joined her and looked out at the cliffs protecting the cove. Only a narrow gap, that wouldn't be easily spotted from the shore, gave the location away. "This beach is very isolated." He turned back to Elgoth. "I can understand why you didn't find it. There's only one way in, and one way out."

Rev watched Triton. He looked as if he had just been shredded by quaggoths near to death, with no time to recover. And yet, here he was, still being noble and trying to mend harm done, even if it was only offense. She told him once that she thought she might like him. Now she knew she did, in a friendly way at least. She was glad she could help save him in the cave.

"Yes, this cove is well hidden," Elgoth agreed. "But my inability to find it had more to do with my madness than anything else," Elgoth said in a hallow voice. "I thought that I had explored more… and I did… but I also wasn't aware of it. I do not know. The memories are coming back to me, but it is clear I was not a master of my faculties at the time."

Triton clapped a hand on his shoulder and gave it a shake. "So why are we still on this island? We have a means of escape. Shouldn't we make use of it?"

"Yes, how are we going to sail the boat though?" Merantha asked.

Rev turned and glared at her. "That's a good question. Too bad there's a sailor here that you just insulted."

"It wasn't intended as an insult," she insisted, though she didn't look guilty at the offense. "I just don't like being mutinied."

"YOU DON'T LIKE BEING MUTINIED?!" Rev shouted. "You weren't the one who was mutinied."

"You were the captain." She dug in her heels. "You got us all mutinied."

"No, Milo got us all mutinied." Rev pointed at her. Merantha tried to interrupt, but Rev kept going. "Let's be _really_ clear about that. And I have plans for him." It wouldn't have mattered who was captain of the Sea Ghost. Milo would have stabbed any one of them in the back, Merantha especially since he didn't know her. And it wasn't as if Merantha suspected anything at that little breakfast. She never said anything, so the mutiny was as much her fault as it was any of theirs. But it did pain Rev, a cut that drove particularly deep, that her crew was not more loyal to her. She hadn't had the time to properly earn their faith because they had to turn around so quickly to find Milo.

The backstabbing little–

"Who you calling a bastard, Bastard!" Her parrot called for no particular reason then whistled to himself. Sometimes she thought he could read her mind.

"For all intents and purposes," Elgoth said. "It seems like Fitzmina is the captain for now, though I don't know what would happen should she die…again. Would the boat attune itself to another?"

"This captain and crew business does beg the question…" Rev said to herself.

"It does, doesn't it," Merantha interjected. "How do we sail a ship?"

Rev gave her a dirty look. The next time Merantha was bleeding on the floor of a cave somewhere, Rev felt like she would have a hard time finding the motivation to risk her own life to save the spellcaster. "It begs the question," Rev clarified, "What are we?"

Ruanea and Borassos came up to join their little circle.

Rev continued. "We are not a captain and a crew, so what are we?"

"We're a team of adventurers!" Merantha said a little too brightly, and Rev wondered why she was along on this entire misadventure in the first place.

"What does that mean?" Rev snapped. She was in no mood to be jovial, and sometimes it felt as if they were all strangers to one another shoved together around a table and forced to play in some strange game. "Are we strangers? Are we friends?"

"It means that we have a job to do in these waters," Elgoth said as the sun passed behind a cloud and the cove dimmed.

"Do we?" Rev was finding it hard to muster any sense of motivation when there didn't seem to be any payoff except more misery. What were they fighting for, really? She did not want to be reduced to nothing more than a cheap hired blade for someone else's machinations. She had nothing now; no ship, no crew, no one that deserved her loyalty except maybe, maybe some of the people standing before her. Aside from Merantha. But what were they to her? What was she to them?

"Well I think so," Merantha said. "I think it's a good idea to go after that kraken baby. We don't want a grown kraken roaming the earth."

That sounded like a death wish to Rev. If Merantha wanted that task, she could have it.

"I am tied to this creature in some way," Elgoth said, turning to Rev. He was serious, solemn, and his voice lost its dark edge for a single soft moment. "And I am compelled to investigate as necessary. If you do not feel this is in line with your goals, Rev. I understand. Though I wish you would join us."

Rev felt like there should have been a pull on her heart. It was the most personal thing Elgoth had ever said to her, but all she felt was broken.

"Yes, I want you here too," Merantha said. "Though only because I like your bird."

Bastard growled and flicked his wings.

Elgoth took another step closer to her, close enough that it pushed that unseen boundary that made her want to take a step back, but she held her ground. He looked down at her hand on the hilt of her sword, then drew his gaze back up. "I think by now, we have all proven ourselves to one another. Even you, short-tips." Then he moved on beyond her to pick up the boat-box with Fitzmina still sitting on it.

"I can say this," she said, if only to herself. "As it stands right now, you are the only people that I trust."

"Trustworthy is good," Merantha said, turning away from Rev. "I trust you, Rev. I just don't want to be mutinied."

Ruanea came up beside Rev and crossed her arms. "How long before you kill her in her sleep?" The elf whispered as she leaned in closer.

Rev chuckled under her breath, and for the moment, her anger eased.

"For my part, I am what I have always been, an agent of my king." Triton said. Rev tried really hard not to be disappointed in his fealty. She supposed that's what noble people did. "I am on a mission and that remains. You are my allies now, and I will help you in any way, but I know what I must do next."

"Which is?" Merantha asked.

"I must inform my king about what I have learned in this place." He inspected one of his wounds.

"About the kraken?" Merantha pushed.

"Yes, the kraken, the shards, how it is all connected, and the danger we are all in." He sat in the sand.

"Will he help us?" Merantha sat down too. "Because I'll admit it, the idea of battling a kraken scares me to death."

"Yes, the king has resources that will outmatch any of us. I would suggest, that should be our next course of action. I know I was not the only one he sent out on these missions. He might have more information that will be of use to us."

"So, you don't want to go back to Saltmarsh?" Rev asked also taking a seat in the sand. The cool grit under her palms felt reassuring, and she dug her fingers into it. The only thing driving her now was seeking her vengeance on Milo.

"What awaits us there?" Triton asked her.

"The council awaits us," Ruanea said very plainly.

"Do we have any outstanding business with them?" Triton asked.

"Well they are not as trustworthy as I would have hoped," Merantha stated.

"The situation with the seal under the bridge seems more complicated than I initially realized." Triton admitted. "It might be best if we return with more information, such that my king could provide." Triton crossed his legs and rested his forearms on his knees.

Rev pulled a small wooden box out of her sack. The lock looked like a typical lock, except there was no keyhole. "And what should we make of this?"

"Milo told us that the shard was hidden here on the island, but that we needed a key to acquire it, the blood of some creature," Ruanea said. "Then the tree told us that the way to the kraken could be found within Elgoth's cave. That the blood opens the box. Do you think the shard could be in this box?"

"That is plausible," Rev said. "The tree definitely said, "the blood opens the box. The only reason we were here to begin with is for the memory of Callie. And I'm fine being loyal to Callie's memory. It's her husband I have a problem with."

"Well, you have my word, Rev," Elgoth began as he found his place in the circle in the sand and sat with the rest of them. "If we find Milo's ship, we shall burn it, and dance to the sound of screams in the moonlight."

"That is not my plan," Rev insisted.

"Naked!" Elgoth continued. "When it comes to sacrificial burning, clothing is always optional."

"That really won't be necessary," Rev insisted as she felt the blood rise in her cheeks, and secretly wished to see Elgoth avenge her in such a way. She had her own plan, but now, all she could think about was Elgoth striding down the burning deck of the Sea Ghost with the flames behind him, and nothing else hiding the form of his body.

Merantha picked up the mysterious box. "Do you think any blood will do?" She asked. Merantha took a knife, pricked her finger and placed it on the lock, but it did not open.

Elgoth stared at the lock. "I am connected to this thing, perhaps my blood will open it."

"I didn't want to offer it on your behalf," Triton said, "but now that you mention it, perhaps it is a good idea."

Elgoth slowly stripped off his coat and shirt, exposing is intricately scarred and tattooed body. Rev once again found the hitch rising in her chest until she couldn't breathe. "Pick a scar," he said, offering the dark, roped scars on his bare arms to Triton.

Triton drew his knife and sliced down one of the dark pink lines on Elgoth's arms. He didn't even flinch. His blood flowed over his forearm like a red river over pale flesh. It fell on the blank plate of the lock.

But it did not open.

"It seems only the blood of a kraken will open this," Ruanea said. "That is, if it contains a shard."

"Then there's nothing more we should do with it until we consult my king," Triton stated.

Ruanea snapped her fingers and the purple dome formed above them. Fitzmina looked content sitting on top of the boat-box. One by one they settled in for the night. Rev pulled out her sewing.

"Does it make you feel any better that we have another ship?" Ruanea asked her. She stabbed the silk harder.

"A ship is nothing but planks in the water," Rev stated. "Do you know the reason a captain goes down with the ship?" she asked the elf, remembering their first days together aboard the Northwind.

Ruanea shook her head.

"A captain does not go down with the ship out of love of the ship," Rev explained. "A captain chooses to remain, because that is one more place on a lifeboat for one of her crew. A good captain sacrifices her life for her crew. My crew was taken from me through betrayal of someone I considered a friend." Rev told herself she would never sacrifice her life for anything, but if she were looking into the eyes of someone she had sworn to herself to protect, and abandoned them to death, she could never forgive herself.

Ruanea nodded thoughtfully. "Your ship is your home. Your crew is your family." She looked thoughtful. "But that's not why your mother choose to stay with her ship as it sank, was it?" the elf asked.

Rev jabbed her finger with the needle and flinched. "No, it was not." There was no crew to save in that moment. They were all already dead. There was only her terrified daughter, clinging to a sinking rail, before Silvey tossed her into the waves. Rev wiped her eye with the corner of the silk in her hand.

Ruanea didn't say anything more, and Rev passed the night quietly, continuing to pull a thread through red silk, as if the thin thread could pull the rags of her life into something meaningful.

The night passed quietly, though Rev never lost the feeling that they all were being watched. Still, they were able to deploy the box-boat without much trouble, and Rev expertly steered it through the narrow cliff passage out into the open water.

Bastard contented himself by attempting to chew through the rigging, but there was an air of magic about this ship. He didn't manage to fray a single rope.

Since Triton's kingdom beneath the waters was closer to their current location than Saltmarsh, they collectively decided that they should visit the king first. Rev didn't mind either way so long as they eventually ended up in Saltmarsh. In fact, this would allow her to broaden her plans, so long as the sea elves were amicable. She would do her best to convince them to her way of thinking, and thankfully, she was very persuasive.

About mid-morning, Triton had a familiar visitor. The octopus clung to the bow of the small ship. Triton smiled and went to greet the creature. The octopus waved its legs, and Triton dutifully translated the message as they all gathered at the bow of the ship.

"Allow me to translate. The octopus is saying, _Excuse me, Mr. Secret-mission-awesome-man._" Triton's voice sounded bland as he translated, and the octopus, indeed, did not wave its tentacles with any particular fervor or enthusiasm. "_I have been sent by King Neptune… to tell you…_" The Octopus slumped as if letting out a sigh. "_That I am not supposed to call you any names_."

"That is very courteous of you," Triton responded. "Though perhaps it would be wise not to mention the secret mission, if you will. That will be your next lesson."

"_You have been summoned_." Triton translated.

"Anything else?" he asked. "No other message?"

The octopus shrugged. "_The king says information, give_."

Rev scratched Bastard's head as she tried not to smile. The octopus was obviously being subdued in a way that was not genuine, and so its politeness came off as even more condescending.

"Thank you for the message," Triton said to the squishy creature. "I will tell the king you have been most professional, this time."

"_Thank… you… your powers are most wonderful_." Then the octopus raised one tentacle and pointed behind them.

Rev turned to see several sahuagin climbing over the rail at the aft.

A familiar voice called, "I knew if we followed that octopus, it would lead us to our prey."

Rev pulled her blades. It was the same sahuagin that had attacked the Sea Ghost.

Ruanea immediately splattered the entire back of the ship with sticky webs. They caught all four of the fish-men and they struggled in the gray mass.

Rev ran across the deck and slashed the closest sahuagin in the bulbous eye. It let out a high-pitched squeal. Merantha blasted them. Fitzmina flew by and then swooped up into the rigging, while Elgoth sent a sheet of ice at the sahuagin.

The fish men struggled in the webbing, then Triton turned around and ran forward. With his face twisted in fury, the sea elf swirled his arm and storm clouds formed above out of a clear blue sky. A bolt of lightning shot down from the cloud, striking the tallest of the sahuagin, and branching out to the others.

Again the sahuagin struggled in the webs, as Borassos moved forward and cast a spell. Bones cracked as Borassos shattered them with a single word. Three of the sahuagin fell dead to the deck, except for the largest, who still thrashed against his binding.

Rev climbed up on the rigging and swung over, slashing the sahuagin with a punishing slice of her sword, then flipped off the ropes onto the deck, landing on her feet.

The sahuagin held onto his bleeding chest as Merantha stepped forward. The air filled with the smell of rotting seaweed. She smiled at the creature as a friendly glow surrounded her. "Don't I know you?" she asked.

"Oy, you're the pretty one I remember from last time I was on this boat. Was it this boat?" he asked with a glazed expression.

"No it wasn't this boat. It was back near Saltmarsh. It's good to see you. What brings you here?" She asked.

"Well." He blinked his large eyes. "We're going to attack this boat. This boat is going to get, Get."

"Why would you do that? These people seem nice to me." Merantha didn't dare move closer, but so far, the spell held. Rev kept her hand on her sword.

"We're trying to get a shard!" He said in an excited tone.

"What shard?"

"The one that opens the portal. We're going to get them all," he said in a conspiratorial whisper.

"What happens when you open the portal?" she asked.

The sahuagin lifted his head to stare at the others behind Merantha. "Hey, are they making fun of me?"

"Don't mind them," Merantha insisted. "Come have a cup. Tell me about yourself."

"I could use a cuppa," the sahuagin said. "Well, I live under the sea, and I lead a school of warriors. And we are going to fight when the portal opens."

"How many warriors are there?" Merantha said in earnest.

"Hundreds, maybe thousands. It's great. We are spawning everywhere."

"Do you have friends other than me?" she asked.

"Yes… No…Not anymore. Those guys stunk. They all died."

Merantha whispered to their party, "What do you want to know? What should I ask him next?"

Rev responded quickly. "Ask him if the sahuagin already have any shards."

Merantha passed along her question and their prisoner thought about it.

"I think we have several by now, but as soon as I get out of these webs, I will have another," he admitted, then gaped his jaw open like a fish out of water.

"How?" Merantha pressed.

"I'm going to take it as soon as I get these guys." He pointed to the rest of them. "You'll help me right?" he asked Merantha.

"How will that get you a shard?" she asked.

"Because there's one on this boat. The magic charm from the wizard tells me so."

"Take his charm," Elgoth whispered.

"Will you give it to me?" Merantha pleaded.

"No!" The sahuagin looked appalled at the idea.

"If we kill him, we can take _everything_ in his pockets," Triton mentioned behind Merantha.

"Do you have any allies with the sea elves or in Saltmarsh?" Merantha asked.

"Not the sea elfs, they smell."

The sky darkened, and a second bolt of lightning streaked down from the sky, hitting the fish-man. He howled as the charm spell broke, so Rev moved forward and stabbed him through the chest. He made a gurgling sound as he fell, appropriate for a fish out of water.

Merantha pulled a crystal out of his pocket. It glowed a faint aquamarine. Rev, suspecting the truth, pulled the box out of her bag. As Merantha came closer, the crystal turned black. When she backed away, the crystal turned clear again.

Rev let out a heavy breath and put the box back in her bag. It looked as though they had a target on their backs. Thankfully, the sahuagin seemed much less difficult to manage than the first time their party had seen the monsters. Their time in Brimstone and on the island had hardened them.

It also seemed clear that the sahuagin were not working alone. This one mentioned a wizard. She wasn't certain how prevalent magic study was among the fish-folk, but she couldn't help thinking about the wizard that had escaped their clutches on the night they captured the Sea Ghost.

Rev never trusted coincidences.

The rest of their journey passed without another sign of trouble, until Triton told Rev to hold the ship in a vast and open stretch of water.

"Well, here we are," he proclaimed, holding his arms out.

"How do we get down there," Borassos asked.

"Jump," Triton said plainly.

Bastard paced on the rail. "Man overboard!" he suggested.

Rev picked up Bastard. In the distance the dark form of some sort of island broke the horizon.

"Go," she said to her bird. "Wait there. Under the sea is no place for something with feathers." She took out her last ugly fruit, and he grabbed it in his beak. He seemed anxious to leave her before he flew off toward the distant silhouette in the vast expanse of blue.

Rev braided her hair then packed her bag of holding well, taking off any excess clothing she wouldn't need, including her boots. She kept her daggers and swords as ballast and protection. She alone would be holding on to one of the shards, and it acted as a beacon for sahuagin. She couldn't be rid of it fast enough in her opinion. "Are the rest of you ready?"

"How are we going to breathe?" Elgoth asked. Fitzmina looked worried, but she was already dead. Rev wasn't sure what the skull was so concerned about

"I can help with that," Triton offered, as he tucked his head and cast a spell. They looked dubiously at one another.

"There's only one way to tell if it works," Rev concluded. She gave Merantha a hard shove, and the warlock splashed into the water. "Are you drowning?"

Merantha scowled at her, but then admitted. "No, I can breathe fine."

Rev dove over the rail, her body stretching into a graceful arc as she hit the water, but to her shock, the necklace she had found on the island glowed. Water flowed into her lungs, but instead of drowning, she found herself breathing quite easily. Air formed around her necklace, and it filled her mouth. This didn't seem to be Triton's spell, but something her necklace was doing. She blew out bubbles, but water still didn't rush in to her lungs. She broke the surface of the water and tread in the bobbing waves. One by one the others followed. Borassos didn't remove his armor, and immediately sank. He clung to a rope dangling from the ship as they all splashed into the waves.

Triton dove in as she had, then sprang up out of the water, did a flip like a dolphin, and splashed back down. It must have felt good for him to be home. Rev treaded at the surface, still uncomfortable with the idea of breathing beneath the waves. Though, when she had been little she used to fantasize about swimming with the freedom of the creatures in the ocean. The water was her playground, and she spent many hours swimming. She would long to dive deep and resented that she had to remain so close to the surface. She supposed this was her chance to explore the underwater world she played in as a child.

A shadow loomed beneath her and she swooped her arms to back away, while the boat folded into a box behind her. Elgoth tucked Fitzmina into his bag, and Rev wrestled the box into her bag of holding.

Borassos immediately began to struggle at the surface of the water, until an enormous sea turtle surfaced beneath him.

"Hold on to his shell. He will help you all swim down," Triton explained.

Rev instinctively held her breath as she clasped the edge of the turtle's shell. Ruanea seemed just as uneasy, as she held on as well. Borassos clung to the creature for dear life.

Elgoth had donned the strange marine armor they had found on the island and found he could swim as effortlessly as Triton.

Without warning, the turtle dove, and Rev found herself gliding through a strange blue world as vast and unfathomable as the sky. A shadow loomed far in the distance. As they drew closer, swells and spires of a great coral reef rose from the sea floor. The sunlight filtering through the waves danced over the forms, giving the still reef the appearance of life.

The reef continued to grow larger before them, until what first appeared to be a normal reef formed a structure the size of a vast city. Regular holes dotted the outer shells of the corals, forming doorways and windows, but not in the places that one would expect them. Some were on the top of bulbs and swells of coral and others underneath.

A blue-green light glowed from the interiors of these chambers. It didn't flicker like the comforting warmth of candlelight. Instead it diffused through the water like the luminescent lichen they had discovered in Elgoth's cave.

Rev didn't see any people swimming through the reef city, but Triton didn't seem disturbed as the turtle brought them to the heart of the sea kingdom.


	22. Chapter 22

Dungeons & Dragons/Saltmarsh

Episode 22

As they swam through the underwater city, Rev took a closer look at the buildings, if you could really call them that. They weren't exactly built, but instead, it seemed as if they had been _grown_ into their current forms by some sort of will or magic. Perhaps the sea elves shaped rocks into the forms they wished, then encouraged the coral to grow over it. Rev couldn't really say. Her father used to speak about elves on land bending nature so that they could live in harmony with all around them instead of sacrifice. It seemed the sea elves had a similar philosophy, and it manifested in a strange and beautiful way beneath the surface of the water.

They swam through a large arching stone, grown shaggy with various types of sea grasses and weeds. The foliage fanned and waved in the water as the turtle swam through and ducked beneath a large bulb of coral without any holes or windows.

The sea turtle nodded to them, leaving them within the room. Triton nodded back, letting out a high-pitched sound through the water. Borassos came to rest on an outcropping of rock that looked as if it should have been a floor, if they weren't floating a few feet above it. More seaweed and groomed clusters of glowing plants attached to the rocks along the walls and ceiling. There were no other openings in this room, except for the hole in the submerged floor, and a set of double doors almost hidden through the waving seaweed.

A sea elf with a broad chest swam closer, wearing bone armor similar to Triton's old breastplate, and short green hair braided into tight spikes. He gave them a flashing smile and swam around Triton in a clear greeting as he used some sort of bone harpoon to push himself off the walls or flip himself upside down as he conversed with Triton. Rev could make no sense of the sounds they were making in water, but they were clearly friends. At times they seemed to laugh, at others, the guard would playfully swipe the water in front of Triton or prod him with the butt of his harpoon. He jabbed the weapon twice, sharply upward, and a bubble formed at the top of the chamber. Slowly it grew bigger, and Rev swam over to Borassos, standing on the rock platform. As the bubble grew, Rev floated up and popped her head into the bubble. Suddenly it felt like she was at the surface instead of in the bubble, and the perspective made it feel as if the water were draining out of the room, instead of the bubble growing to fill it.

She descended with the water until her feet hit rough sea stone. Ruanea pressed her hands to her skirts, attempting to force them down as water dripped from her short, copper-tipped hair. She looked a little like a wet cat, and Rev tried desperately not to laugh at her discomfort. Borassos just seemed glad that gravity had returned to something they were used to as the level of the water reached equilibrium with the rock at their feet, leaving them in the chamber with a diving hole behind them.

"My name is Aqualus, and I am here to present you to King Neptune of the sea-elf kingdom," he had a sort of lilting accent that drew out his syllables and softened his hard consonants into a musical way of speaking. "I would tell you the name, but it is in our dialect. Just know that it means Glorious Kingdom. Tri-ton, why don't you introduce me to your friends." His smile was truly infectious, bright in his blue face, unaffected, and broad.

Elgoth was the first to speak. "My name is Elgoth Mistwalker," he said as he seemed to pull his brooding air around him like a cloak. To be fair, his dripping wet coat and soaked hair did make him seem even more steeped in misery than usual.

"El-goth Mistwalker," Aqualus greeted, leaning on his harpoon, like he wasn't completely used to the full pull of gravity. "It is a pleasure to see a good surface elf in the king-dom. It has been a long time. You had a long swim."

Rev wasn't entirely sure she would call Elgoth a _good_ surface elf.

Aqualus continued. "Not used to the water, I can see."

"Hey now, let him be," Triton interjected, taking on the lilting manner of speech. It was strange, this new accent coming from him. Rev raised her eyebrows in surprise. "These surface crea-tures, they do not often have the chance to swim deep."

Aqualus laughed. "Yes, let him be."

"I was trapped on an island for twenty years," Elgoth lamented. "I have had enough water for my time."

"Oh," Aqualus' eyes went wide. "I know of that island. I do not envy you. That is not a place I would wish to tread."

"You are telling me," Triton agreed. "We have spent some time there recently. Ha, never again. Allow me to introduce Rev, and Borassos."

Aqualus' arms went wide as he turned to her. "Rev and Borassos!" his voice boomed in the chamber as he looked her over. Rev became very aware that her white shirt was now clinging to her arms and chest above her leather corset. Her pants plastered against her legs, outlining their silhouette. Surprisingly this didn't bother her, and she rather enjoyed Aqualus' appreciative gaze. She tilted her hip, then smiled at the bombastic sea elf. He held out a hand, and she gave him hers. He didn't kiss it, instead lifted it slightly in what must have been a sea elf greeting. "It is my pleasure."

"Rev Blackwind," she said. "I am glad to meet a friend of Triton's."

"You are part elf, or so I understand," he said with a glimmer of mischief in his expression.

"Half," Rev said coyly.

"Of course, I could see it in your cute little ears." He winked and Rev laughed. "We are about to go through into this next chamber, the surface chamber, then the king is setting a feast for you. We will eat, and it will be wonderful. Perhaps you can save me a seat." His voice dropped a pitch. "That would be great."

"I look forward to it," Rev said, and while Aqualus had lifted her spirit, her voice took on a dark edge before she could help it. Oh yes, a royal feast would be perfect for her plans.

Elgoth leaned closer to her. "You like men with gills?" he asked.

Was he jealous? Rev blinked innocently at him.

"I am much better looking than this one, I can assure you," Aqualus said as he pointed to Triton. Rev considered it. Actually, they made quite a striking and colorful pair, with the lean muscles and wide shoulders of swimmers, and the underlying beauty of elven features. Together they probably carved a wide swath through the sea elf ladies. Though she couldn't imagine Triton ever being as flirtatious as his friend.

"Oh, take that back, man," Triton protested. "You wouldn't last five seconds on the surface."

"I would not go to the surface for five seconds," Aqualus stated. "I am far too smart for that."

Triton looked at them all. "I must apologize," he said this with his very proper high-elf accent that they were all used to. "You all have been looking at me strangely hearing me speak in my native dialect. When I am away on missions, I find this trained dialect much more effective when speaking common at the surface, as surface dwellers have some trouble understanding us when we use the undersea dialect. All warriors and diplomats are trained to speak as I am now, but as you can see, at court, the king prefers if we speak this traditionally sea-elf way."

"Triton, you sound so weird," Aqualus teased.

He immediately fell back into the sea elf manner of speaking. "Ah, tell me about it. It takes so long to kick the habit. But once you get the hang of it, it's not so bad."

"Perhaps we should all speak in our common tongue of the elves," Elgoth said. "My accent, too, can be sometimes difficult for others to understand."

"If you wish to speak in elf, I would love to hear it," Aqualus encouraged. "But understand that my elf sounds a lot like this."

They all broke out in laughter.

"I think we should require Triton to speak like this all the time," Rev suggested. "I rather enjoy it."

"Amongst friends, perhaps," Triton suggested. "But other times I need clear and concise communication. That is what we are after."

"You know that is what the king always says," Aqualus agreed. "Crisp and clean. That is how the king likes it."

"Crisp and clean," Triton agreed as if this were some private joke between them.

"And Borassos! Finally we have a human with a good name! Humans are usually named things like Steve." His lilting speech dropped like a rock on the name, and he made a face. "Or Joe. It's good to see a man named, Bor-aws-oooohs."

"You really haven't been to the surface much," Elgoth commented. "Have you seen some of the names?"

Triton waved to Ruanea who was wringing out her skirts, and Merantha, who was doing the same with her hair. "And this is Ruanea and Merantha."

"Another pretty elf," Aqualus nodded appreciatively.

"You got that right, man," Triton agreed. Rev smiled, slightly surprised that Triton would admit Ruanea was pretty. Ruanea only scowled. She dropped her sopping skirts and raised one eyebrow at Triton's friend, sparing an icy, sidelong glance for Triton. Rev knew that look. Ruanea was not amused.

"You have no chance with her," Rev warned. "I'm sorry."

Aqualus threw his arms wide. "Ah, I smell a challenge!"

Triton must have picked up on Ruanea's irritation, because he waved his hands and a warm air blew through the chamber, drying them almost instantly. It was a good thing, too, because Ruanea looked as if she were about to shoot shards of ice out of her eyes at the sea elves. Once dry, she took a deep breath, and her normally inscrutable expression returned. At least Rev felt a little more certain Ruanea wouldn't start a diplomatic incident with their watery cousins.

"This is some fine magic," Aqualus declared. "You will only find such magic in the sea-elf kingdom."

"The only place you get warm air is under the sea?" Elgoth questioned.

"That's right," Aqualus smiled proudly again. "The sea elf kingdom is the only place you will find warm air, under the sea."

Elgoth shrugged. "I can't argue that logic."

Rev pulled her boots and hat out of her bag and pulled them on. They were also dry which was a relief. The sharp rocks, not worn by wind or wave, were hurting her bare feet.

"Come my friends!" Aqualus announced as he threw open the double doors behind him. Water dripped on them from the limp seaweed hanging over the doorway like a curtain. They stepped into a large hall, that had clearly been designed as an air chamber. A throne shaped from purple coral stood at the far end. Crowds of sea elves in beautiful finery filled the chamber, though the layers of clothing probably looked even more impressive when floating around the elves as they swam. There was an order to the crowd. The guards lined the walls, with advisors flanking the king, and small groups of dignitaries clustered together. The importance of the people in the court seemed defined by their proximity to the back of the room where the king sat on his throne. Aqualus led them right up the middle.

"King Neptune, let me present to you Agent Triton, and his surface friends!" Aqualus's voice boomed through the chamber. "Mr. Elgoth Mistwalker, Mr. Borassos, Miss Rev Blackwind, and the lovely Ruanea and Merantha."

"It is very good to see you, my friends. Come, come, closer Agent Triton." The king was a large elf with extra-long braids that reached his waist. He wore a crown of polished coral inlaid with gold and pearls. His somewhat round face resembled Aqualus. They shared a similar wide smile, and Rev wondered if the younger elf might have some royal blood-lines. The king didn't show his age in his face so much as the scars he bore. He must have seen countless years of battle against the sahuagin, and perhaps a shark or two.

Aqualus approached and as he reached the throne, he bent on one knee in a strange sort of genuflect. It appeared awkward, but perhaps that was only because it was a gesture that was meant to be made while floating, a knifing of the body in an elegant pike.

Rev being diplomatic, offered her own pirate form of a bowing curtsey, a hand gesture that reflected the removal of one's hat followed by the downward swish of an imaginary sword to honor the beginning of a duel.

Merantha leaned over to Triton and whispered. "Your king is a good-looking man."

"If you tell him that, you will make yourself a friend," Triton whispered back.

Elgoth shifted awkwardly on his feet.

"Triton and Aqualus, your genuflect is respectful. For your friends. It is unnecessary. You are not my subjects, after all."

"It is no difficulty for us to show you respect, great king," Rev offered.

"I like this one," the king said, sweeping his hand toward Rev while leaning over toward his advisors. "She is strong with her words. You need to watch out. Aqualus will get his eyeball on you."

"My liege," Triton said. "It is true of my friend, Rev. She is very strong-willed. I have disturbing news. The sahuagin, they have returned. And they are after the shards. There are strange things afoot in Saltmarsh. There is also a baby kraken about, that is linked to my friend Elgoth… and we have a box." Triton stumbled a bit on his words, clearly flustered and unable to convey the enormity of everything they had experienced.

"Triton, if I may," Rev said striding forward and lifting herself into a posture for a stage. She let her voice project through the chamber as she peered around searching for bards. Sure enough, a trio of sea elves, adorned with fancy ornaments, and holding strange instruments, peered at her with interest and whispered to one another. "The tale we have to tell is one filled with secrets, danger, and treachery. If it would please your majesty, I would be glad to tell it." As she came to the center of the room, she felt all eyes on her, and the noise in the chamber fell to a hushed whisper. It couldn't possibly have been the case, but it felt as if the glowing plants dimmed, except for the one directly above her. Rev figured Milo had sailed away assuming she would one day come for him with her blades. But Rev knew Milo's greatest pride was exactly that, pride. He loved to be admired and well-thought-of. There was a time to use the blade, and a time to use the bard. Let her revenge begin.

Triton seemed relieved. "My king, I will give you my full report, but perhaps this tale is best told by a bard," Gesturing to her as he faded back toward the wall.

"I would be delighted!" The king said, clapping his hands together. "Sing us your tale, bard."

Rev remembered countless nights aboard the Blackwind hearing her father's voice as it soared over the deck. He would move across the ship with gestures to emphasize the emotion and drama of his tale. In performing this strange dance of words, he would entrance them until they could feel the chill of fear in their blood at a tale of danger, even though they were safe. The thrill of victory coursed in their veins at the mention of heroic deeds, or the agony of grief during a tale of sadness would break them all, until the most hardened of sailors had to dry their eyes.

She took a deep breath and felt the magic of her father fill her as she began their tale, beginning with the warm and sunny days on the Northwind, and the comradery they shared at the Sundowners that turned them into the beginning of a family. Rev spared no detail in the tale, emphasizing loyalty through danger as she told of how they broke up the smuggling ring, freed Triton from his captivity and degradation, parlayed with the Lizardfolk and discovered the sahuagin threat. She told of hearing of the attack on the Northwind, and dread they felt as they worried that their beloved friends were in the grips of a ruthless goblin pirate.

Through her tale, she emphasized their bravery in protecting the crew of the Sea Ghost. Braving the attacks from ghost ships, giant squid, sahuagin, and the terrible storm, she told of how they sacrificed themselves to make the crew safe, taking moments to describe each of the crew with enough detail that anyone who heard the tale would recognize them even if they changed their names. She noted that not a single one of her crew had come under any harm, though her own blood had stained the deck multiple times to protect them.

She portrayed the danger infiltrating Brimstone, and how no one else dared attempt to rescue Milo or Callie. As she reached the moment where they found Callie, lifeless and broken, with her husband wailing for death beside her, several members of the court openly wept.

Rev kept the bards in the corner of her eye and noticed them taking notes as they listened to her tale. They took turns listening and writing so they could record every word. Though her body conveyed the weight of the grief she still felt for Callie, knowing the bards were heeding her story lit a fire in her heart. She told the king that the reason that their friends were captured and tortured was because Callie knew of a magical shard, and it was this shard that the goblin pirate, and the sahuagin were after.

Rev was careful not to reveal anything about the secret council in Saltmarsh, instead saying merely that Milo promised to take them to the island where the shard was hidden so that they could secure the shard from the sahuagin. That way Callie's death would not be in vain.

At the moment of the tale where Milo left them for dead on the desert island, Rev had to wait for the shocked gasps and angry murmurs to die down before continuing. Some of the guards gripped their harpoons tighter.

She then conveyed each of the horrors they faced on the island with dramatic aplomb, showing the court how easily they all could have died in their attempt to secure the shard and escape the island. If they had met such a fate, the shard would have fallen into dangerous hands, surely, endangering them all. She told of Triton falling to the quaggoths, and her selfless act, risking herself to save him. Finally, they found a magic ship, and set off on the sea once more.

"And instead of returning to our people," Rev said dramatically with a sweeping bow toward the king. "We came directly here to your great kingdom to give you these tidings."

The court remained silent and motionless for several moments, as if the tale were too much, and they needed time to absorb everything Rev had just made them feel deep into their hearts.

While her audience was still raw from the story, Rev pulled out her tin pipe and played the heartbreaking melody she had been composing on the island. Then she sang.

It was a song of a woman who clung desperately to life in the midst of terrible pain until the moment that she knew her beloved was made safe. Only then did she cross over to the golden shores, and now she waits for him there, desperate to see him again.

But on the day that he finally crosses over to the other side, and runs across the golden sands to meet her, she walks right past him because she cannot recognize him anymore. He is no longer the man that she once loved. And so, she waits forever for her love to return, though he never will.

It is Callie's Lament.

The hall was no longer silent but filled with the beautiful grief. One bard was already fiddling with chords on his instrument, attempting to recreate her song while another had collapsed on his friend's shoulder, shaking with sobs.

Slowly as the tide of emotion pulled out of the room and the lights brightened, the chamber filled with a sharp clattering sound as the sea elves knocked rocks against the walls or floor in an oceanic form of applause.

Pride filled her. She was her father's daughter. Now all she had to do was repeat this performance in every pub of every port on all the Sea of Steam and the entire Sword Coast until the whales sang it from the depths of the oceans, and the birds trilled it in the air. There would be no escape from it, and no mercy.

Rev turned her attention to the king, who had his hand in a small bowl of water, where he lovingly stroked a small orange octopus. It reached tentacles up around his hand in a comforting way. "After such a tale, we should replenish ourselves and feast!" the king announced. "Agent Triton, I will expect a more formal report, but it never hurts to use some flair in telling a tale."

"Yes sir, I will have my written report immediately," Triton said, "Truly though it was a marvelous telling. I will inform you though, of the political situation in Saltmarsh. There is more going on than it appears."

"Well let's begin this feast, so I can tell you what I have learned in your absence, my friends." The king rose and the crowds parted. He led the way back into the first chamber, only now it had been transformed. A long banquet table had been placed inside of it with a vast spread of ocean delicacies. Heaps of food had been arranged on beds of golden sea kelp, resting on fine plates flanked by shining silver utensils. Few of the plates actually matched. It created an elegant effect of loose artistry that suited the affable, undersea elves. Perhaps the pieces were salvaged from shipwrecks throughout the Sea of Steam. Stealing sunken treasures made the sea elves seem a little more like pirates, and Rev decided she liked these people very much.

They followed Aqualus, and Rev had to admit that she rather liked following Aqualus purely for the view, until they took their places around the table for what was clearly a formal royal dinner. The king took his place at the head of the table, and suddenly the room was filled with laughter and conversation. It was hard to believe that the reserved and collected Triton, came from these joyful and boisterous people.

"As you can see, we do our very best to accommodate persons of surface interests," the king declared proudly. Rev looked down the table at the hungry sea elves. How did they have a formal dinner normally? Did the food just float around? Or swim around? "As you can see, everything you have here is home grown. The clams are from my personal bed. The kelp is grown in the royal gardens. And you will find…"

The king paused as Elgoth hungrily dug into the food with his bare hands. The king waved as a servant took away his small octopus. "You must try the calamari."

"How much of this buffet are friends of yours?" Elgoth asked Triton.

"If I were to sit down, Elgoth, in your surface king-dom," the king interjected, "And you were to give me a hamburger, would I then be right to ask you the name of the cow?"

Rev laughed so suddenly she nearly sent wine through her nose.

"But I cannot speak to my food as Triton can," Elgoth said.

"Do they not have druids on this surface?" The king turned to Triton.

"My friend here, his powers do not derive from the natural world," Triton explained. "He is more of a mental man, with the arcane arts."

The king nodded wisely. "I can see very well that he is a mental man."

Just when Rev dared to take another drink, she almost laughed again.

"I have spent many years in quiet contemplation and study, this is true," Elgoth admitted, without noticing her amusement at the conversation.

"That is very much respectable, and I honor you for it," the king offered, kindly. "Come Borassos, how does one named Borassos with such a flairish name come from a human such as yourself, with the walrus hairs." He motioned at his own face, tracing the shape of Borassos' moustache.

Borassos looked like an animal caught in a trap as the whole court turned to give him attention. He didn't respond, and instead took several long drinks of the wine.

"Merantha! Try the wine!" He winked at her. "As you know, Agent Triton is one of the better people that I send to the surface for me. But I have hundreds of agents that I send to the surface. Many of them have returned to me, each with their own tales. I have my ministers take all this information and gather it together to get the bigger picture."

"I am at your service, my liege." Triton bowed his head.

"What I can tell you is that your story validates much of what has been told to me. It is coming together into a large picture that is very troubling. As you well know, years ago, we were attacked by the sahuagin. First they came in the t'ousands, then they came in the hundreds, then they came in the dozens. And as we beat them back, they kept coming, the hundreds, and the dozens, until it was only a few stragglers. In this way we knew we must be defeating them.

"Then finally the waves were only a few paltry individuals. The sahuagin literally threw themselves at our door until at last, every last one of them was dead. We honored them for the terrible tragedy they created in killing themselves at our doorstep. But we were always very confused about why they would do this."

"It is very alarming behavior indeed," Elgoth admitted.

"It was very not tactical, was it?" The king nodded to him.

"Perhaps something even more terrible was driving them forth." Elgoth looked contemplative.

"That is what we thought as well," the king said, then took a drink of his wine. Rev didn't suppose they got to drink wine very often while under the water. "I sent agents far and wide for years to discover just that mystery. But not only did we find that there was nothing that was driving them. We found nothing left of them at all. We concluded as anyone might, that they were all dead. That is what we shared with the people of this reef, so they can sleep well in their kelp beds at night."

"But we now know that the sahuagin have returned," Ruanea stated. She had arranged all the food very carefully into separate sections on her plate.

"What we have discovered about the sahuagin, is that they are lying low. They attacked us to distract us perhaps, but they are planning something. That is how we learned about the shards. And that is where you surface dwellers come in. The sahuagin have discovered that there is a way to open a portal to another dimension filled with terrible beings. These beings will kill many on the surface, and under the water as well."

"I have already seen such things," Elgoth admitted.

"My friend Elgoth has a history with a cult that tried to open the portal, The Twisted Rune." Triton glanced over toward Elgoth.

Rev gazed at him over the rim of her wine. "That's how he got his scars," she said in a soft voice.

"The Twisted Rune," the king looked a bit surprised. "I have heard of the Twisted Rune, and I am surprised to hear you speak of it now. For the thing I am about to ask you to do, calls greatly up on the Twisted Rune's tale. You have a shard in this box, do you not?"

"We believe so," Rev confirmed.

"But you cannot open this box." The king nodded, as if he were thinking about how everything was connected. "Is there a magic spell cast upon the lock that you cannot open it? And perhaps you need something special?"

"We believe we need the blood of a kraken to open the box," Rev admitted. "Although, it seems to me, that if the sahuagin are seeking these shards, it would be unwise to open this box. It would be best to keep it locked and hidden."

"I can tell you now," the king declared. "I do not want you to open this box in this kingdom. Once you open that box and the shard is exposed to the world, the sahuagin will be attracted to it."

"We have already had some trouble with that," Rev admitted.

"It is true," Triton interjected. "They can only detect it at close range, but they had a crystal that lit up, then turned black as it neared the box."

"Through the box even," the king looked surprised, then he rubbed his jaw. "A crystal that follows the shard." The king motioned to some officials that had been taking notes of their conversation. "Well, I will tell you that there are seven shards that we know of. There are three that make way along the southern coast. We have agents trailing the man who has them. There are two that make across the water. We have one with us, and there is one more shard, the location I do not know, yet.

"But, that brings us to the Twisted Rune. There is an island not too far from here and the Twisted Rune have an abbey. It has been neglected for very long. There are clerics there who claim the same mission as the Twisted Rune once did two decades ago. I do not know that they are the same, but their message is similar enough that they do not appear far apart. Now the clerics of this abbey are trading with pirates. My agent, you'll know her as your superior officer, Major Ursa, has discovered this island and observed that there has recently been some battle there. The abbey has burned. We believe the pirates that the abbey once traded with turned on them, perhaps in some ugly deal. We do not know the exact details. But I can tell you that that box leads to that island, and you'll find the kraken you seek on the island in that abbey with the clerics."

"I still don't understand why we should open this box," Rev said.

"You should definitely not open that box!" The king's voice rose. "We do not want anybody to open that box."

"Then why should we seek out the kraken?" Rev looked at the others. Elgoth seemed a bit torn.

"This kraken in the abbey," the king explained. "It was taken from the other portal on that other island, that you once lived on. I understand you were there?"

Elgoth looked uncomfortable. "I was."

"And that thing did not like to be disturbed?" The king's eyes grew wide. "And perhaps it killed everyone?"

"It apparently left me with a task, to look after the creature." Elgoth placed his glass of wine on the table.

"The babay kraken," the king nodded sagely. "The mother kraken told you to look after the baby, and what you think you do if you fail?"

"I die," Elgoth admitted sadly.

The king nodded again. "So, that box needs to not be opened, but that baby kraken cannot stay where it is. It is a danger to us all. It must be returned to its mother."

"My liege, is this what you would have me do?" Triton asked.

"Return the baby to its mother, that will make it right before the mother grows angry and kills us all." The king tipped an oyster shell into his mouth. "And I would have the shards protected. There is one shard left to find. I have an agent working on that. You keep safe that box," he said to Rev.

"I don't want anything to do with this box," Rev protested. "And I especially don't want to bring a box that can only be opened with a kraken, near a kraken. That seems foolish to me."

"You may leave the shard here with us," he said. "But I do not want that box opened in my kingdom."

"That seems fair to me," Rev stated, pushing the box containing the shard across the table. "Logically speaking, if we do not want a portal to dimensions terrible open, then our best course of action is to keep the shards, or anything that can reveal the shards, as far away from any other shards as possible. If this shard is a burden the sea elves are willing to bear, I will gladly leave it here."

"My liege," Triton said. "Is this your wish?"

"My wish is for you to return the baby kraken to its mamma before she grows angry and kills us all. The shards I wish to be protected," he declared. "I would rather it not be in my kingdom, but I think there is wisdom in what Rev has said." The king rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"My recommendation is that it not remain with us," Triton advised. "We shall face danger and we do not want it to fall in the wrong hands. I believe the shard will be safest here."

The king nodded to his guards, and they took the box away, followed by some sort of magistrate. "Very well. Borassos, do you have a thought?"

Again, the entire table turned to Borassos. He slowly peered around at everyone. "No," he said quietly.

"He is the strong and silent type," Triton mentioned.

The king pressed on. "You have something of a cleric about you. Do you have a problem with going to the abbey and confronting other clerics?"

"No," Borassos mumbled.

"Okay then, it is settled." The king leaned over toward a sea elf woman as the warrior whispered something in his ear. "I am sorry. We would very much like for you to spend the night in the sea elf kingdom and for you to write your report, however, there is new smoke rising from the abbey. It was attacked just this morning. I do not want to send my soldiers from under the water when we have such grand adventurers here as relayed by your own bard, Rev. It would be a great service for you to go to the surface, find the baby kraken in the abbey, and return it to its mother so that you may fulfill your duties."

"My friends," Triton turned to them. "It would be good for me to continue to adventure with you. My task is not yet done until we are safe again."

"I fear that opening the rift to return these creatures to each other will seal all our dooms. You have not seen what this thing can do." Elgoth paled beneath his scars as his eyes looked distant.

"At least this time we are returning the baby, instead of stealing it." Rev stated rather blandly.

"I fear it will not matter, but we must not leave such a dangerous creature in this world." Elgoth said. Rev agreed with him. This was a very dangerous task that would bring them back to the heart of that cursed island. But hopefully in the end, if they were successful, Elgoth would be free. Elgoth shook his head as if staring at his own gallows.

"It is settled then," King Neptune proclaimed. "You six, and Major Ursa, the seventh one. You shall go up! You know how I like things done, agent Triton. Crisp and Clean, ah, ah, ah! So, go now upon my signal. Seven up!"


	23. Chapter 23

Dungeons & Dragons/Saltmarsh

Episode 23

Major Ursa swam them up through the water, with the grace and efficiency of a shark. Triton swam just as well, as he and Elgoth managed to drag Borassos through the water. They rose up through the deep, and it wasn't long before the floor of the sea rose to meet them. At first it was a change in the hue of the water, then the tops of long ropes of seaweed swayed around them. Finally, Rev could feel the pulse of the waves as the light glittered above her through the shining surface. She broke through, then swam on her own, pulling herself with the crest of the swelling waves, and using that energy to carry her to the shore.

White sand churned through the roiling waves as Rev stood in the shallows and marched through the waves toward a small but sandy beach. After wringing out her braid, she reached into her bag for her hat and boots, glad that the box with the shard was no longer inside it.

The sun felt good on her back. She didn't realize how cold she had been, so deep in the water. The others emerged from the waves and gathered together on the beach. Major Ursa strode onto the beach and addressed them as her golden eyes peered up at the smoke rising from the top of the hill.

"This beach is the only place that is accessible on this island," she declared, gripping her harpoon and making a motion toward the rising cliffs to either side. "The rest is surrounded by high cliffs and rocky shoals. The pirates land here, but this beach is guarded. Stray off the right path, and dead things in the sand, rise to kill you. I do not know the way through the dunes, but I do know that the pirates start right here." She pointed to a rock just above the water line.

"How will we know the way?" Merantha asked.

Ruanea was busy wringing out her skirts again near the water. Elgoth pulled Fitzmina out and let her fly, but all she saw was sandy dunes leading up the hill.

"I think I can find the path," Borassos said as he stepped forward. "I can attempt to feel the presence of the undead." He placed a hand over the crest he wore around his neck. The light around his hand shimmered as he stepped forward. Rev shared a glance with the others, pulled her swords, and followed him single file.

Borassos moved slowly, holding his free hand out and sweeping it in front of him as he held on to his sacred crest. Occasionally the sand next to them would ripple, but they remained safe as he wove through the dunes. They made it about fifteen paces until he set one foot forward, and a bony hand shot out of the sand to grab his ankle.

The sand around them bubbled and shifted until six skeletons rose out of the dunes and shambled toward them, clattering old rusted swords as the wind off the sea blew the sand off their tattered rags.

They immediately fell into battle, and it didn't take long before all six skeletons fell in heaps of bones in the sand. Borassos was especially effective with his hammer. As the last skeleton fell, Rev shook the ribs off her cutlass.

"You are using great teamwork!" Major Ursa shouted from the waterline. "You should have no problem."

"I take it, she isn't going to help." Rev looked back over her shoulder and noticed that Ruanea wasn't with them either.

"She is more of the managerial type," Triton explained.

Borassos seemed shaken at his misstep and attempted another one in a different direction. Once more the sand shimmered as arms and skulls rose out of the sands.

They fell into battle again. Merantha shot her blasts in two different directions and Elgoth had to duck. "Be careful how you part my hair," Elgoth shouted back at her as the skeletons fell beneath their blows. Rev managed an artful dodge and emerged from the two scuffles with little more than a scratch. She brushed a trail of blood off her shoulder like it was nothing.

They could see the top of the dunes where the trail became rocky and led up the hill. "Skeletons aren't so bad. Keep going, Borassos. We can see the end of the path just up there."

Borassos squinted and held his hand out again. He found the safe path another eleven paces, and then on the twelfth, the ground began to shake. They immediately formed a circle with their backs to each other. Rev stood shoulder to shoulder with Elgoth as all of the skeletons buried in the sand rose at once.

They had to number in the hundreds. As they came up the beach, they formed into three swarms, while another group clasped bony hands to dried femurs and spines, until they pulled their skeletal frames together into a giant construction of bones. Rev stared in horror at the skeletal juggernaut that ran toward them.

"What sort of priests live in this Abbey?!" Elgoth exclaimed.

"Evil ones!" Triton shouted back over the clatter of bones.

"No, I am impressed." Elgoth's icy scimitar gleamed.

One of the swarms of skeletons pushed forward and engulfed Rev and Elgoth. They turned and pressed back to back, so she could feel his shoulder blades against her back, a solid comfort as the bones assailed them. Elgoth shouted something to her, but she couldn't hear it over the clattering of the bones. She only caught the edges of the words, "Only… Skele.."

Then the juggernaut reached them and collapsed into a wave of bones that crushed them. The dried bones battered Rev like an angry mob wielding clubs. They pummeled her as the bones broke over her and the clattering roar grew so loud it felt like her ears were bleeding. The bones swept back like a retreating tide and reformed into their monstrous construction.

Borassos raised his hands and glowed with a golden light. About half of the skeletons froze, then turned and walked away into the dunes.

Merantha clasped her crystal amulet as the remaining swarm engulfed her and Triton. Rev flipped her cutlass around and then slashed the Juggernaut's leg. One of the skeletons forming the leg broke apart, and another lost an arm.

Elgoth attacked the Juggernaut with a furious attack, turning into a whirlwind of cold blades while Triton transformed into an enormous white bear. He rose on his hind legs and roared. The juggernaut took two swipes at the beast, but missed as Triton fell back down on his front legs.

Merantha pushed out of the swarm of skeletons and held the ring that she took from Fitzmina's body aloft. Her eyes turned white and glowed with an eerie light as the juggernaut turned to her, and went still, transfixed by the magic of the ring. Energy flowed toward Merantha through the strange psychic connection, leaving them all to deal with the last of the swarm of skeletons.

Fitzmina flew by, trailing green smoke, and several of the skulls forming the body of the Juggernaut turned to follow her with their empty gazes. Rev supposed Fitzmina was even attractive in death, to the dead at least.

Triton slashed at the juggernaut with his claws, knocking several bones out of it, then he clamped on a skull with his wide jaws and crushed it. As the juggernaut weakened, more bones fell off of it. It seemed to shrink as bones rained down.

Merantha maintained her connection and the juggernaut fell apart, but the skeletons forming it rose as individuals and surrounded them numbering at least a dozen.

"Where is a fireball when you need it?" Elgoth called. "Ruanea!"

But she was nowhere to be found.

Rev again came in close next to him. "We're winning, right?" he said to her.

The skeletons surged forward and battered all of them with relentless attacks. Rev ran through the skeletons to attack the swarm around Merantha cutting them down with brutal swipes of her blades.

Triton growled at Elgoth and made a 'come hither' motion with his paw.

"Elgoth, get out of there!" Rev shouted at him. She had a feeling that Triton was preparing something dangerous. At the very least Elgoth was completely surrounded, and for whatever inexplicable reason, she cared about the surly elf.

"I'm doing fine!" he called back, but as their eyes met, he must have seen her desperation because he let out a huff and retreated toward them. He shoved his way through the skeletons until he came next to her and they stood back to back once more. "Happy now?"

"Yes," she admitted.

The clouds formed overhead, and as the bear roared, a bolt of lightning struck the ground right where Elgoth had been standing. She felt him stiffen behind her as the thunder rolled over them. Two of the skeletons turned to dust and Triton transformed back to his normal self.

Borassos followed Triton's lightning with a wave of thunder that swept out from him. A few more skeletons crumpled. Skeletons still swarmed around Merantha. Two more attacked Borassos, but he let out a sharp blast of power as he was hit, and another skeleton crumpled, but he wavered on his feet. Then a skeleton hit him, and Borassos fell.

"Borassos!" Rev shouted. The skeletons attacked her, but their blows glanced off her. Rev pushed through the skeletons and reached Borassos, singing her healing song to him as she pulled his shoulders into his lap. He blinked up at her as he gasped, and she gave him a nod. Rev left him there, pushing to her feet.

Triton and Elgoth continued the battle around them. Triton called down a second bolt of lightning. More of the skeletons turned to ash as the swarm crumpled. Borassos pushed himself from the ground and unleashed a mighty swing of his hammer, sending a spray of bones flying in front of him. Merantha followed his swing with her blasts, and the swarm collapsed.

Rev and Elgoth became a fury of blades, while Triton called down another bolt of lightning. All the skeletons fell asunder, except for one final one wavering on his bony feet. Merantha blasted it, and the clatter of bones finally fell silent, leaving only the rushing pulse of the waves behind them.

Triton yelled back to Major Ursa. "The beach has been secured, sir."

"It took you long enough!" she shouted back. "I shall report to King Neptune. Good luck!"

Just then Ruanea wandered up the path, still fussing with her wet skirts as they clung to her legs.

"Where have you been?!" Rev called to her.

She looked confused, as if she were completely unaware of what had just transpired, then gingerly stepped through the masses of bones. "I had a crab in my shoe. It refused to leave."

Exasperated, Rev climbed up out of the dunes and sat on a rock. She heard a familiar voice behind her sing, "But crabs do linger in the grass!"

She swung around. "Bastard!" He flew down from a pillar of what must have been an old gate and landed on her knee. She stroked a hand down his green feathers as the pain of the wounds she had suffered from the skeletons eased.

"Hi!" he greeted with his fiery irises blazing.

"Well at least _he_ had no trouble crossing the beach," Elgoth muttered as they all sat down to rest. They could smell the smoke from the abbey on the wind. Rev pulled some rags out of her sack and bandaged the worst of her bruises as she looked around.

Tendrils of smoke rose from the blackened walls of the former abbey. The roof was gone, and parts of some of the walls had collapsed. It was hard for her to believe that pirates alone caused such damage. She wondered what they were after. The island itself was a miserable rock. Every tree had been cut down, leaving a graveyard of stumps around the high hill. The priests must have been here for a very long time, and foolish about managing the island's resources. It was no wonder that they had to trade with cutthroats. That proved their undoing. Still, why did the pirates choose to attack now? The abbey was certainly hiding something, but the temptation would have to be great to destroy a reliable source of easy income for a band of cutthroats. Rev didn't like the timing. It was clear after their encounter with One-Eye the goblin, that it wasn't just sahuagin after these shards, or the things that could reveal them. Again, she never trusted coincidence.

As the last of their party came up into the rocks, the skeletons reformed into individuals from the bones they had left strewn through the dunes. They walked off, spreading out across the beach before lying down and sinking into the sands. Rev shook her head. The chess board had been reset. She didn't want to risk crossing the skull dunes again.

"There is someone standing on the cliff, far in the distance," Ruanea declared as she shielded her eyes from the glare of the sun. Rev stood and joined her. Sure enough, a dark form swung some sort of line over the cliff to the sea below, then hauled it back up.

"Is he fishing?" She crossed her arms.

"Oh! Stinky Mitch does not like fish," Bastard sang. "He would not eat a single dish!"

"He seems awfully calm for standing near the ruins of a burned abbey that was just attacked by pirates," Elgoth observed. "Should we scout this individual out first?"

"They may interfere with our attempt to loot the abbey otherwise." Triton stood next to Elgoth and crossed his arms, watching the mysterious figure on the cliff. "I'm curious to see what they are doing when there is a burning abbey behind them."

"If they make themselves bothersome, we can cut their throat and feed them to the fishes," Elgoth suggested.

"That would make them somewhat difficult to talk with." Triton shook his corded hair back over his shoulder.

"There are ways." Elgoth's voice took on a creepy tone as he brought his fingers together and turned to Fitzmina floating next to him.

"The last thing we need is another floating skull about." Triton looked askance at both of them.

"Oh, have it your way," Elgoth sat on a rock and swiped at a bleeding wound on his forearm, then licked it.

"We can't all fit under Rev's cloak and sneak in that way," Ruanea lamented.

Actually, that wasn't such a bad idea. "Maybe one other person could." There was some room under the cloak after all.

"I could turn into a snake or a spider, and scout for us," Triton offered.

"And get eaten by a bird. I'll send Fitzmina to scout ahead." Elgoth snapped his fingers at Fitzmina and she turned to him but didn't float closer. She kept her jaw clamped tight in what might have been an annoyed expression. "That is, if she's feeling cooperative. She's been much more skull-strong these days. Go scout ahead, witch, and tell me what you see."

Fitzmina reluctantly flew high into the bright sky, the white of her skull melding with the glare of the sun. As she drifted away, just before Rev lost sight of her, a seagull dipped down at her, then tumbled through the sky and flew away as fast as possible.

Elgoth stared into the distance for a minute or so with his arms crossed. It didn't take long for Fitzmina to come bobbling back as if she were tired from such a long flight. She drifted down and floated next to Elgoth. "What did your dead eyes see, witch?" he asked her, his arms still crossed. She opened her toothy jaw. Elgoth scowled. "I don't care about the damn birds or their pecking… Yes, I'm very proud of you… You have seen much worse… Yes you have. I looked into your eyes as I plunged a blade through your breast!" Fitzmina closed her jaw and dropped down in a sulk. "I order you to tell me what you saw," Elgoth insisted. He nodded a couple of times. "Were they human, elf? Were they Twisted Rune?" He nodded again.

Elgoth turned to the rest of them. "Fitzmina says that there are three elves on the cliff and that they are hauling up water in a bucket, then purifying it with magic. She says that they are not members of the Twisted Rune, but a different branch of the order called the Contorted Sigil. They broke off from the Twisted Rune, preferring to focus on religion and prayer instead of arcana and magic as lesser intellectual beings are wont to do, no offense Borassos."

He shrugged.

In the distance they watched the men wander back toward the abbey.

"Do you know how these people would react if we were to approach them peacefully?" Triton asked with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Probably not well," Elgoth admitted.

"How would the Twisted Rune have reacted?" Rev asked.

Elgoth let out a sigh. "Enslave us. Harvest our organs. Tie us to stone alters covered in arcane sigils. Slowly drain us of our blood to use in dark magics, and then give our souls over to the litches." He ticked off each thing on one of his long fingers.

"Very well then," Rev said brightly.

"Battle it is," Triton agreed.

Rev placed Bastard on the rock, and he proceeded to preen his tail. "I can use my cloak to sneak around the perimeter of the abbey looking for traps and things. Triton, if you are willing to change form into a spider, you can come along in my pocket, in case we get into trouble. We can rendezvous with the rest of you near the entrance of the abbey." Rev reached into her pocked and produced a small wooden box with a filigree lid. It once held a ring her father had given her mother. "You can hide in here, so I don't accidentally crush you."

Triton disappeared, and a minute later, Rev felt a tickle on her wrist. A tiny blue and green spider crawled across her hand and tucked through one of the small holes carved in the lid of the box. Rev placed Triton in her pocket, tucked her hat into the bag of holding, and drew her cloak's hood over her wild streaked hair. She felt better knowing Triton was tucked in her pocket as she crept around the abbey. They passed by some tended gardens still growing food. Luckily they had escaped the destruction. The stones of the abbey walls were still hot from the fire, but Rev detected no traps and heard nothing. A minute later, they watched through a ruined window as the three elves dressed in acolyte robes struggled to carry buckets of water. They descended through the ruins into some underground chamber, a cellar perhaps. She rounded the back of the abbey and met the others at what used to be the abbey's entrance. "All is quiet," she reported. "They appear to be making camp in some sort of cellar beneath the abbey.

Ruanea inspected the worn path to the cliffs where the acolytes had gathered the water. "We could set an ambush."

"You know me. I prefer a more direct approach." Elgoth drew his swords.

"Or, we could mound a bunch of dirt over the cellar opening and come back in three months," Borassos mused.

"As much as I like the viciousness and cruelty of that act, I would prefer something more expedient." Elgoth appeared to give the suggestion careful consideration. "But I like where your head is at."

"I can sneak down the stairs to see what I can spy," Rev offered. She took out the little box. "Are you willing to come with me?" Rev asked, and a tiny spider leg waved through the holes in the lid in an encouraging manner. She placed it back in her pocket and crept down the stairs.

Her heart pounded in her ears as she pressed her back to the stone wall of the stairwell and placed her feet carefully on each tread. A small bit of stone broke off one of the steps and clattered down to the cobblestones below. She could see the flicker of some sort of firelight, and heard the rumble of unhappy male voices.

"Why do we always have to fetch the water?"

"Because that is the way of it. You do the women's work, and we do the men's work!"

Rev placed her hand on the hilt of her daggers and was tempted to rush down the stairs and teach whoever said that the meaning of 'women's work.' Instead she allowed her cooler head to prevail and crept back up the stairs to report to the others.

At the top of the stairs she pulled the box from her pocket. Triton emerged, then suddenly appeared next to her. "There are several men, but they seem engaged in menial chores."

"If they don't seem dangerous, perhaps we should make contact with them and ask them what we came here for." Elgoth looked contemplative, then his face brightened. "And if they don't talk to us, then we slit their throats!"

"We can say we saw smoke coming from the island and that we are here to assist," Rev suggested.

"If they see the markings on my face, they will recognize me as a cultist." Elgoth looked around. "Do we have any way of disguising my appearance?"

Rev had an idea. She took her old non-magical sack out of her magical bag and pulled one of her daggers. "If we cut eye-holes in this, you can wear it over your face. With your long sleeves on your coat, they won't see any of the other tattoos."

"You wish for me to wear a bag over my head?" He looked at her, incredulous. "After battling monsters, and pirates, and sahuagin for weeks, this is the most sophisticated solution we can come up with?"

Borassos touched one of the burned walls, then rubbed his fingers together. "We can cover your face in soot."

Elgoth snatched Rev's sack. "I'd rather wear the bag." He cut two hasty holes in it and pulled it over his face. "I love this plan."

Bastard flew up to them and landed on Rev's shoulder. He took one look at Elgoth and let out a laugh. Rev grabbed his beak as they all fell into line on the stairs behind her. As soon as they reached the bottom step, Rev noticed at least three men hunched in a corner gambling. The group of acolytes were pouring water into a barrel and washing dishes near a fire in the corner. She didn't see any women.

Rev took one step back, pulled her braid loose, fluffed up her hair, and opened the collar of her shirt. She knew one way to cause chaos, and a bunch of men trapped alone on a miserable island might just take the bait. She pinched her cheeks, then boldly entered the room. "We saw the smoke from the beach, thank the gods there are survivors here!"

Several things happened at once. The acolytes let out a surprised squeal as one of them dropped a water pail. The guards immediately jumped to the ready. One of them stared at her breasts, while the other, standing somewhere behind him, drew his sword. The third, who stood a whole head and shoulders taller than the others looked angry. "Hold there and surrender!"

"I am no threat," Rev announced, making no move to her blades, and pitching her voice into a very innocent and feminine tone. "I could see that a great misfortune has happened here, and as a victim of terrible misfortune myself, I have only come seeking to aid anyone who has survived here. This island seems to be a dangerous and difficult place." Somehow she made herself sound helpless, even though it went completely against her nature.

The big guard stomped to the center of the room. "What do you want, wench?"

At the word wench, Rev shifted her weight in a way that gave a seductive tilt to her hips as she brushed her hair from her face and blinked at them, making her eyes large and as innocent as she could manage. "We fell upon hardship and came upon the beach desperate for water, but our party was attacked by skeletons. We barely managed to survive, and then saw the ruined abbey. We feared for any following a holy calling here. How could anyone do such a vile thing, attack sacred ground?" Rev took a step down.

"Stay on the stair where I can see you, pirate!" the large soldier shouted.

"We have water here!" one of the acolytes offered, dipping a cup in the barrel and hurrying forward with the expression of an overenthusiastic puppy on his face. The guard stiff-armed him.

She turned to the acolyte and looked up from under her lashes. "I am very thirsty."

The two other guards moved to flank the stairs. "We'll have no more of pirates! I take it you have a ship?" The guard shouted. He was a mountain of a man, though didn't seem very quick witted.

As soon as he said the word _ship_, two more people entered the room. One wore long red robes with a large gold medallion around his neck. He was elvish, with white hair, and a hunched posture for one of his kind. The acolytes scrambled back. This was clearly the head of the order. He addressed the guard, "Ogmen, what is going on out here?"

A second person emerged and stood near the wall. It was another elf, with dark brown hair and a lute slung over one shoulder. Could he be a bard? He froze when he saw her. He seemed confused for a second as his forest gaze locked with hers. Then he quickly averted his eyes. He made no move closer, but he looked up again, clearly interested in what was happening.

A third person came out of a door behind the stairs wearing the cult's vestments. "What is it, Osemodeus? What have you fouled up now? Who are these pirates?"

"We are not pirates!" Rev protested, still holding her hands in a placating way. The entire room fell silent, and everyone stared at her. "Was it pirates that attacked this place?" Rev asked. "They can be such horrible villains."

The white-haired priest came forward, and the gladiator took a step back. "Oh, my dear, my dear, not pirates you say?" He folded his hands in his copious sleeves. "But you look so piratical."

"Where's the rum?" Bastard called. Rev grabbed his beak again.

"We are but humble merchant sailors who have come upon some misfortune ourselves." Bastard pulled his beak out of her grip and hissed as he raised his hackles. "Our ship was attacked by pirates ourselves. It may have been the same bloodthirsty crew that laid waste to this abbey. I fear our ship is no longer seaworthy after the attack. We barely made it to this island."

"Oh, my dear, how horrible for you. Please come down." He motions to her, pushing the guard out of the way.

The other elf priest scowled. "Osemodeus, you fool. Clearly she is a pirate. She has a parrot."

"Actually, he's a curse," Rev stated.

"Oh hush, Odium," Osemodeus motioned to her. "Come, you must be parched. Come have some water."

Rev didn't trust them. They seemed genuine, but she didn't trust her instincts. Rev started coughing and wiping at her eyes. "I apologize, the smoke is in my eyes. Can we go outside to speak."

The big soldier immediately headed for the stairs. Rev and the others backtracked and spread out at the top. At least here they had room to fight should something go wrong. As they reached the top of the stairs both sets of parties seemed to size up the other.

One of the guards pointed at Elgoth and shouted. "They've got a leper!"

"No, no! He's not a leper!" Rev waved her hands in front of her as an over eager acolyte ran up the stairs.

"I know what to do!" he called as if he had been waiting his whole life to meet a leper, just so he could use his skills.

"He's not a leper!" Rev insisted. "He is just very ugly!"

"I don't know if I am ugly or not, mistress," Elgoth said in a crackling voice that sounded like a very old man. "I am Anthony Baghead. I was cursed by hags over fifty years ago, when I was but a lad, and forced to wear this for all time. It was an evil hag that affixed this to me. It can never be removed. All manner of magic has been tried. All has failed."

Triton snorted.

"Why must you mock me?" _Anthony_ pleaded. "I lead a wretched existence. It is a blighted life." As he tugged on his sleeves he insisted. "I am most assuredly not a leper."

Osemodeus looked at him in pity. "There is a curse about you. I can sense it. You poor afflicted soul."

"Yes. mine is a benighted existence." Elgoth hung his head and the sack wrinkled sadly. "My heart is filled with woe and anger. I was such a beautiful lad too. Only the gods know what lies beneath this bag now."

Osemodeus shook his head sadly and looked out at the horizon. "I do not see your ship."

"Oh dear," Rev said. "I fear it may have sunk."

Ogmen gave her a suspicious scowl and gripped his sword. Borassos moved closer to Rev and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Osemodeus reached out and grabbed Ogmen's hand. "Stay, Ogmen. Is that a cleric I see? What sort of deity do you worship?"

"Talos," Borassos said with his usual loquaciousness.

"Ah yes, the evil god of lightning. Strong choice. And did he drop you from the sky?" Osemodeus looked out at the shoals that were too rocky and shallow for a ship to sink.

"The truth is we were mutinied and marooned here to die," Rev admitted, letting all the latent emotion from having actually been mutinied seep into her voice. "I fear the crew knew of the skeletons in the beach and hoped that they would have finished us off."

He nodded, this time believing her, though Ogmen didn't seem to buy it, and kept his weapon at the ready. Osemodeus headed back toward the stairs. "I see you have been through great troubles. You will not find much respite here. We ourselves have been stranded on this island for..." he counted on his fingers, "Twenty-five years, though it is our servitude to our god that keeps us chained to this island so we may protect our god's treasure. And we have had to resort to trading with sailors such as yourself for these last several years." He said the word _sailors_ with a knowing look. "But alas, treachery at every corner. Every generation of sailors such as yourself ends the same. It is no matter."

"We know how it is to be betrayed," Rev stated. They were here for one thing, the kraken. Frankly, these clerics could keep whatever else they were hiding, she didn't care. If they didn't harm her, she wouldn't harm them. If they tried to stop her from taking the kraken, there might be a problem. They would have to cross that bridge when they came to it. They didn't seem disturbed by the idea of another pirate attack, and that confidence worried her. But, if like the Twisted Rune, they were keeping the kraken for nefarious purposes that would lead to the deaths of those in Saltmarsh, the Lizardfolk, or the sea kingdom, then whatever happened here would be justified. Besides, it sounded like they wanted to be free from the burden of all of it. Rev would be glad to relieve them of the burden, be it treasure or young monstrosities.

Out of the corner of her eye, Rev spotted the bard climbing the steps and working his way along the back of the crowd until he stood next to Triton.

"Come, come, we shall go inside and rest. There is much work to be done to restore the abbey in the morning."

They followed the cultists downstairs, where the acolytes prepared a small chamber for them to rest. Rev checked to make sure the door couldn't be bolted from the outside before they lingered inside of it. After securing their chamber, they mingled around in the main room of the cellar. The guards tended to follow Rev around, and while she didn't exactly encourage it, she didn't discourage their attention either. One of the acolytes kept mentioning about how heavy the water was to carry, while the soldiers bragged to each other about their weapon prowess whenever she was within earshot. The only ones that didn't seem to seek her attention were Osemodeus, who seemed busy, Odius, who was put out because it became clear that the room they had cleared out was his, and Bayleaf the Bard, who seemed to be actively trying to keep anyone from noticing he was there. That was strange behavior for a bard, and it made Rev wary.

The cultists ate a meal on the floor, and their party retreated to the room they had offered. As soon as they shut the door, Triton whispered, "The bard says that there is more here than it seems. He's willing to help us for a price. He wants to meet tonight, in the ruins. I could use your persuasive skills." Triton nodded to Rev.

"I'll go with you," Rev agreed. She liked the idea of working with Triton as a team of sorts. The others could get their rest and rejuvenate their magic. She was just as effective with her blades whether she was tired or not. Though the deep bruises from the battle with the skeletons still bothered her. Besides, she wasn't sure she trusted this other bard, and wanted a chance to size him up.

In the wee hours of the morning, Triton turned into a spider and crawled out of the room. Rev opened the door slowly in an attempt to stifle the squeaking hinge. One lone guard sat near the fire with his back to the door. Rev tip-toed toward the stair. As she reached them, the little box fell out of her pocket and clattered across the stones toward the guard. Rev dashed over to it and swiped it up from the ground, then turned and ran up the stairs as the guard let out a choked snore.

When she reached the top of the stair, she saw Triton standing with the elf bard in the moonlight. All of Rev's flirtatiousness was gone. The elf seemed both confused and intrigued at the complete change in how she carried herself. Rev crossed her arms, letting her fingers linger on the hilts of her swords.

"Ah, it is good to see you. I am a training instructor for the guards," he said.

"You," Rev stated. "The bard."

"Ogmen wished for me to teach them resistance to magical effects, like sleep. They haven't proven very adept at the skill," Bayleaf admitted. He had a cool an aloof aura about him, a little like Ruanea, but the corner of his mouth twitched up at his admission. "I am not one of the devoted…" he lifted his chin, and Rev saw a flash of the elf haughtiness that she was becoming more and more familiar with. "Or stupid," he added. "I am tired of being on this island. If you can get me off this island, I can help you find the treasure from the tunnel."

"What sort of treasure?" Triton asked.

"The priests guard a treasure in the deepest layers, but if you don't go that deep, there is plenty of treasure in the tunnels. However, it is guarded."

"What guards it?" Triton asked.

He paused, and it looked like he paled, or it could have just been the shift of the moon from behind a cloud. "I do not know. Others have gone after the treasure. None has ever returned. None but the priests. That's why no one is concerned by your presence."

Rev wasn't entirely sure he was being forthcoming, but she had had a bad day, and she was exhausted. She didn't fully trust her judgement in these matters.

"I did see them bring the treasure in to the abbey over twenty years ago," he whispered. "There must be over ten thousand in gold and gems down there."

"Do you know the layout of the tunnels?" Triton asked.

Bayleaf shook his head. "I only know the secret passage to the tunnels,

"That would be good to know," Rev said.

He held up one elegant finger. "But I am going to need safe passage off this rock."

"We may be able to help you with that," Triton admitted.

Bayleaf turned to her. His eyes were dark in the night, but held an inner fire of elf magic that burned with a green spark. Rev waited for a moment, and the yawning silence felt endless.

"Triton does not lie," she admitted, and found her heart thudding heavy in her chest. She did not want to trust him.

"I can show you the entrance to the tunnels, and if you make it back out with your pockets stuffed, I will help sneak us out of this godforsaken cellar to the beach. How would you get us off the island?"

"We may have magic means." It was something Rev didn't want to admit, and she felt the slight weight of her bag on her hip, the Salvation hiding within it.

Again, the slightest of smiles brushed the elf's lips. "That is what I was hoping you would say. Can you get us out of here without going through the sand dunes? Only Osemodeous can safely traverse the dunes. They are cursed."

"We noticed," Rev muttered. "If there is a way down the cliffs, or a secret way it would be safer."

"The only way in or out of the tunnels is through the room right next to yours. There is no safe way down the cliffs." A flash of hopelessness crossed Bayleaf's expression. In that moment he seemed young. It was hard to tell with elves, but for most, twenty years wouldn't seem like a long time, unless that was a good portion of the life they had lived thus far. And getting involved with death cults was the sort of impulsive thing a younger elf would do.

Rev looked around. The ruins were all around them, including a large broken door hanging off its hinges. The fire had singed it, but not destroyed it completely. "Unless we take a door and levitate it in the manner that we used to make the baboon king fly. Ruanea can stand on it and take half our party with her, so much as she can safely carry. She can lower it down the cliff and out to the shoal. There we can board our ship, and she can continue the spell back up the cliff to retrieve the rest. Thus we make our escape."

Bayleaf's expression brightened. "I believe this could work." He held out his hand. Rev clasped it. It was a promise made.

Rev broke away, and together, she and Triton returned down the stairs. "Now how in the seven hells are we going to fit a baby kraken up these stairs," Rev whispered.

"Let's not overthink it," Triton suggested.

They reached the others, roused them from sleep, and together quietly entered the room next to their chamber. Rev left Bastard sleeping on the back of a chair. The room beside theirs was a meditation room, with heavy black tapestries on three of the walls, and on the fourth a mural of a red dragon devouring sheep, and other things.

The bloody depiction gave them pause. A table had been pushed up to the mural, and though it had been scrubbed and scoured, it still bore several suspicious stains and scorch marks, along with two gold candle sticks holding burning candles dripping red wax like blood. A half-melted statue of a red dragon sat between them.

"See," Elgoth stated as he pulled the bag from his face. "They are only being nice so that they can sacrifice us here later. This is more like the Contorted Sigil that I knew of. None of this sharing stew and inviting strangers into your home."

Rev found the secret door hidden beside the altar thanks to Bayleaf's instruction. They pushed it open to reveal a short hallway leading to a second chamber just beyond. Rev couldn't detect any traps and stepped carefully into the hall. She peered into the new chamber and saw Five corpselike figures guarded a door, their faces painted in gruesome colors.

Two massive skeletons, with horns sprouting from bovine skulls, flanked the door. Each carried an enormous rusted axe. Alongside the minotaurs hovered two specters and a small halfling-type creature contorted with evil. Rev rushed into the room and attacked both of the minotaurs at once, then retreated back into the corner as Elgoth entered. One of the minotaurs bellowed and charged between them. Rev saw the axe swinging for her, but there was no room to move. It cut through her as pain radiated through her entire body. Weak and dizzy, her blood spilled over her hand as she struggled to find safety. She was vaguely aware of things fighting and moving around her, but all she was aware of was the rushing of blood in her ears, and the hot feel of it on her hands as it spilled from her body.

Through the chaos, Elgoth looked as if his arm were rotting like a zombie, and Rev gasped as Borassos pushed through to reach her. One of the specters screamed at him but he laid his hand on her shredded abdomen. It glowed, and the wound began to stitch together. Rev clung to his hand as the specter hit him.

There was a clatter and shouts from the main part of the Abbey. Osemodeus raised his hands and spoke to the specter. The medallion glowed around his neck. The specter immediately backed away. The other undead creatures also lowered their weapons and returned to their positions guarding the door. He turned to them. "What are you doing in the Winding Way?" he shouted at them. "Ogmen, take them!"

"To arms! To arms!" the bear of a man shouted. Suddenly all the guards pushed into the meditation room.

Rev dragged herself back into the meditation room next to Ruanea and tucked herself behind the tapestry holding herself ready for the moment she could reach one of the attackers. The sounds of battle clattered in the small room. While Borassos had healed her enough that she could stand, she was still badly injured, and now afraid. They were trapped. Rev stabbed out through the fold in the tapestry, hitting one of the guards next to Elgoth. He crumpled to the floor and Ruanea was able to retreat to the corner of the room.

Rev felt a wave of heat and heard the roar of fire as an explosion of fire engulfed all of the guards. They screamed as they fell, turning to piles of ash. They could hear Ogmen's flesh sizzling as he roared at them.

A bolt of lightning shot through the room, and Rev got tangled into the tapestry. For a second she felt her muscles seizing, then she felt nothing.

At first, all she saw was a golden light. Then felt the wind on her face, the warm sun. The smell of the ocean surrounded her as the deck swayed softly under her feet. She looked up and saw the silhouette of someone, a woman, at the helm of a ship. Her long dark hair blew in the wind. The sun shone behind her, so Rev couldn't see her face. She squinted into the light as she reached out from her place near the rail. She let go of the rail and reached toward the captain at the helm.

The deck shifted, and darkness closed in around her. She felt a pull, then a rush, as if she were being dragged under by a powerful tide. When she opened her eyes, Merantha had her by the hand.

She was alive. Pain wracked her.

Damn it. Now she owed Merantha a debt.

Rev remained curled on the floor but looked around. Death and chaos reigned everywhere. She looked in confusion toward the other room. A pack of wolves were attacking the priest, knocking him to the ground as they swarmed over him in a wave of writhing fur. He screamed.

Rev wasn't sure what happened, but the wolves appeared to be on their side, so she held her wounds as she curled into a tighter ball. The priest released another bolt of lightning, but Ruanea held her hands out and the bolt shot back then dissipated.

Rev stood and stumbled forward. She looked at Osemodeus. "You were right, we are pirates," she proclaimed as the wolves growled and snapped their bloody jaws.

Elgoth ran forward and gutted the cultist. He fell.

They all looked warily at the undead guardians at the door. Borassos came forward and took the medallion from around his neck. It immediately glowed purple in his hands. He stood and placed it around his neck.

The undead backed away.

**Author's note: This was one of the funniest and scariest games in this entire campaign. First of all, as I have mentioned, Elgoth is our best roll player. When we came up with the plan to put a bag on his head to hide his tattoos, the resulting bit of roll play had us laughing so hard, I couldn't breathe. Elgoth's player said that he might revive Anthony Baghead as an actual character in the future. I didn't put in one fun little bit of teasing because it just stopped the flow of the story. When "Anthony" said he was filled with woe and anger, Triton contracted it to "Wanger" and that has become a running joke. Rev very nearly met her ultimate end in this chapter. She was still wounded by the skeletons when the minotaur hit a particularly nasty crit against her. When it was followed by the lightning bolt, she came within 9 points of an instant kill. It got my attention, to be sure. I'm glad she didn't die tragically. That would make ending the rest of this pretty awkward.**


End file.
